Sonipat: Escalating the attack on the Nayab Singh Saini-led Haryana govt and the Election Commission (EC), leader of the opposition and former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Saturday claimed that attempts were being made to manipulate electoral rolls through the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process.He also accused the Saini govt of presiding over a deteriorating law-and-order situation in the state.Addressing a state-level Congress workshop on the SIR exercise here, Hooda urged party workers to remain vigilant and ensure that no eligible voter is disenfranchised while preventing the inclusion of fraudulent entries in electoral rolls.The workshop was attended by several senior Congress functionaries, including AICC in charge for Haryana Sanjay Dutt, Haryana Congress president Rao Narendra Singh, MPs Randeep Singh Surjewala, Satpal Brahmachari and Deepender Singh Hooda, former Union minister Birender Singh, former Haryana Congress chief Udai Bhan and political analyst Yogendra Yadav.Hooda said the party had launched an organised campaign at the grassroots level to monitor voter list revisions and safeguard democratic rights of citizens. “Congress workers have been trained to assist in the registration of genuine voters and identify fake entries. Our objective is clear — no bogus vote should be added, and no legitimate voter should be removed from the electoral rolls,” he said.Aiming at the Election Commission, the senior Congress functionary alleged that the poll body and the BJP were working in tandem to influence electoral outcomes. He claimed Congress workers and booth-level agents had repeatedly flagged irregularities in voter lists.Congress functionaries are regularly raising these concerns with the election authorities, but to no avail, said Hooda.“The pattern of manipulation was visible in Haryana’s election results. Complaints regarding the SIR process are being received regularly, and we are pursuing these with the officials concerned,” said Hooda.The former CM also critiqued the BJP govt over “worsening security environment” in Haryana. Referring to recent incidents, including a firing episode in Charkhi Dadri and dacoity in Kurukshetra, Hooda said such crimes generated fear among residents and exposed govt’s inability to maintain law and order.“The audacity with which criminals are operating, even committing offences near police establishments, shows they no longer fear the law. Robberies, extortion, murders and firing incidents are becoming alarmingly frequent,” he said.Citing the Centre’s Social Progress Index, Hooda claimed Haryana had been ranked among the most unsafe states in the country. “If citizens feel insecure about their lives and property, govt must be held accountable. Ensuring public safety is the foremost responsibility of any administration, and the BJP govt has failed on this front,” he said.
