Pune: Congress has stepped up its opposition to the SIR by forming an ‘SIR task force’ in Maharashtra to point out the discrepancies in the ongoing exercise. The task force will be meeting the party’s booth-level agents (BLA) to get details of the deletions and additions of voters in the draft rolls.The opposition parties in Maharashtra are mounting pressure on the govt against the ongoing SIR exercise in the state. Senior members from opposition parties participated in the protest rally organised by cousins Uddhav and Raj Thackeray in Mumbai on Sunday. The opposition parties are demanding removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar following the alleged discrepancies in the SIR process.Following the protest rally, the newly appointed Congress party in charge for Maharashtra held a meeting with the ‘SIR task force’ members in Mumbai on Sunday. MPCC general secretary and the coordinator of the task force Abhijeet Sapkal gave details of the work being done by the team in understanding problems being faced by the voters during the SIR exercise. “Our party has already exposed how the SIR was carried out in other states to favour BJP. Similar attempts are being made in the ongoing exercise in Maharashtra which our party is now trying to highlight. The task force members will be preparing a report on the lacunae in the system. The form 6 issue has already been highlighted and as the exercise progresses, more such issues will come up,” an MPCC member said.According to the MPCC functionaries, the task force members will be visiting various cities of the state to meet BLAs to understand the issues with the SIR at the ground level. “BLAs are directly in touch with the BLOs and voters. They know the practical issues being faced during the process. After taking note of the issues, the task force will be submitting its report on SIR which will help the party in challenging the process legally as well as creating a public opinion by showing lacunae with examples,” another MPCC member said.
