AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi questioned why the SIR enumeration form allows details of only up to five children and argued that no law bars citizens with larger families from voting.
Alleging that the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process for updating electoral rolls allows details of only up to five children to be entered in the enumeration form, Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi questioned the provision, saying there was no law in India that barred citizens with more than five children from voting.
Addressing a gathering in Hyderabad, where he urged people to furnish their details accurately during the process, Owaisi also took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying even the Prime Minister comes from a family with more than five children.
“They are saying they do not map more than five children. For example, I have six children. Similarly, Prime Minister Narendra Modi comes from a family with more than six siblings, and Home Minister Amit Shah also comes from a large family. Even the family of Yogi Adityanath has several members,” the AIMIM president said.
“There is no law in India that prevents a person from voting simply because they have six children. The right to vote is a constitutional right available to every eligible citizen,” he added.
The SIR of electoral rolls in Telangana is scheduled to begin on June 15, with Booth Level Officers set to conduct door-to-door verification from June 25 to July 24. A draft electoral roll will be published on July 31, while claims and objections can be submitted till August 30. The final electoral roll will be published on October 1.
Owaisi, who has strongly criticised the exercise, argued that the SIR could be used to create a “permanent class of excluded Indians”.
However, he also directed party leaders to extend every possible assistance to people to ensure that no genuine voter faces inconvenience during the process.
