SIR is ‘backdoor NRC’, Owaisi alleges BJP will use it to turn voter-list revision into citizenship test

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar (Maharashtra) [India], October 2 (ANI): All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi alleged that the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls is a “backdoor NRC” and claimed that the BJP would use the exercise to turn it into a test for citizenship.
Addressing a press conference on Thursday, Owaisi said his party had opposed the SIR from the beginning, alleging that the exercise would create problems and eventually be used as the basis for a National Register of Citizens (NRC).
He stated, “We are opposing it since the beginning. We have opposed SIR. We have opposed the selection of the election commissioner. If there is anyone in the country who has done this, then we did it in 2002. We did it in Maharashtra, Telangana, Uttarakhand and Delhi. No one else did it,” Owaisi said.
He said that the AIMIM had consistently raised concerns over the SIR and alleged that it was being used as a means to carry out an NRC.
“We knew there would be problems. We have been saying from the beginning, look, this is not SIR; it is a backdoor NRC, and they will conduct the NRC on the basis of this. Now look at that statement by RSS’s Ambekar. They are talking about the voter list,” he said.
Owaisi reiterated that his party had opposed the SIR, maintaining that the exercise was not limited to electoral roll revision.
“We opposed the SIR, and the AIMIM party said that this is a backdoor NRC,” he said.
“I have been saying from the beginning that the BJP will use this to conduct a backdoor NRC and turn it into a test for citizenship,” Owaisi added.
Earlier, on Sunday during a press conference, he urged citizens across the country not to take the SIR process lightly, warning that negligence could cost them their voting rights and citizenship. "This is not just about losing your right to vote; you could also be deprived of your citizenship. Therefore, take this with great depth and seriousness," he warned. (ANI)