Speaking at the India Today Conclave, Sule asserted that the government should have held a dialogue with protestors staging a demonstration against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar rather than imposing restrictions.
“I condemn this act because it was a very peaceful agitation. They were going to participate in Delhi, and I personally feel, it is a strong word, but it is cowardly of any government to do that,” she said.
Also read: ‘This government will fall’: Rahul Gandhi alleges ‘millions’ added to, deleted from voter rolls
Responding to the argument that the government was responsible for preventing untoward incidents and maintaining law and order, the NCP (SP) working president said the authorities could have handled the situation through dialogue.
She further noted that the country needed serious electoral reforms, stressing that the issue was not about any particular party winning or losing.
“We need very serious electoral reforms in this country. It’s not about us winning or losing. Whoever wins should be the person that the Indian voter wants to lead this nation,” she said.Citing the Khadakwasla assembly constituency in Maharashtra’s Pune district, Sule questioned the changes in voter numbers following the SIR exercise and sought access to the data.
The Baramati MP said that the constituency had around 5.5 lakh voters during the Lok Sabha elections, which later dropped to around 3.1 lakh, while the number had now reportedly fallen to about 2.5 lakh after the special intensive revision (SIR).
“Three lakh voters are gone. I don’t know where they are. I’m not saying that they disappeared. There may be a scientific reason for it. Give me the data. Let’s correlate it,” she said.
Sule also questioned the drop in voter numbers in the Baramati Lok Sabha constituency and said the authorities should provide data to enable a proper examination of the changes.
Emphasising the need for a transparent and data-driven assessment, she said electoral reforms should not be reduced to political arguments.
Opposition parties were willing to participate in discussions and legislative proceedings to address concerns over the electoral process, she said, questioning why the BJP was not reaching out to other parties to discuss reforms.
She said that the Opposition would be willing to accept an electoral outcome even if Prime Minister Narendra Modi returned to power after reforms, provided the election was free and fair.
On the future of the INDIA bloc and whether the Congress would play the role of a senior partner in the Opposition alliance, Sule said it was too early to predict how the political equations would evolve.
“How it will unfold, only time will tell,” she said.
Asked whether her father and NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar was likely to return to the Congress, Sule said she could not speak on his behalf.
“You know my father as well as I do. He’s a man of very, very few words, and that’s why he’s lasted in politics for six decades, because he talks very little,” she said.
Sule also expressed concern over what she termed as an atmosphere of fear in the country, and questioned the outcomes of investigations conducted by central agencies such as the Enforcement Directorate and the Central Bureau of Investigation.
She said that the need of the hour was to strengthen democratic institutions and ensure that citizens had confidence in the electoral process.
