Actor and producer Prakash Raj on Saturday (August 22) alleged that the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and delimitation of constituencies were attempts by the BJP to consolidate its hold on power by undermining the voting rights of people.

Addressing a public meeting at S.M. Pandit Rangamandir in Kalaburagi, where the Kannada version of the commemorative volume on Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Dheemantha Dhureena, was released, Mr. Raj said the BJP was seeking alternative means to retain power.

“The military is often used to capture power through coups in neighbouring countries such as Pakistan. It is not possible in India as it is governed by the Constitution. Because of the Constitution, they are not able to capture power through a military coup. That is why they are trying alternative methods such as SIR and delimitation,” he said.

Mr. Raj alleged that the BJP was attempting to take away the constitutionally guaranteed voting rights of people through such measures. He said the saffron party feared losing power owing to growing public discontent with its “misrule” over the last 10 years and was therefore seeking ways to remain in office even without popular support.

“The BJP fears losing power. That is why it is resorting to measures such as SIR and delimitation so that it could remain in power even if the people do not support it. We recently met Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar and appealed to him to voice his opposition to this in the Assembly. We are not concerned about BJP voters or Congress voters. We are concerned about the voting rights of the people,” he said.

‘Purify mouths, not stage’

Condemning the recent incident in Haldwani, Uttarakhand, where Hindutva activists reportedly performed a “purification” ritual on the stage used by Mr. Kharge during a public meeting, Mr. Raj said the place that needed to be purified was not the stage on which Mr. Kharge stood but the mouths of those who “lie, sell bad dreams and use offensive and derogatory language” every day.

He said the right-wing forces were targeting Mr. Kharge because he had stood in their way of attempts to replace the Constitution authored by B.R. Ambedkar with the Manusmriti.

“These people (referring to the BJP and RSS) claim that everything was fine in India before the British came here. That is completely wrong. Untouchability and caste oppression existed and women had no equal rights before the British came. The Constitution authored by Ambedkar sought to liberate the oppressed communities not just from British rule but also from the oppressive and exploitative practices advocated by Manusmriti,” Mr. Raj said.

R.K. Hudgi, who translated the commemorative volume on Mr. Kharge from English into Kannada, said the event had been organised in a manner that also made it a platform to protest against communal and divisive forces.

“For us, every action is a protest. Our actions, our works and our speech are all different forms of protest against injustice,” he said, raising slogans on the stage against communal forces and condemning the Haldwani “purification” incident.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, KPCC president B.K. Hariprasad, Medical Education Minister Sharan Prakash Patil, Sharanbasaveshwar Vidya Vardhak Sangha secretary Basavaraj Deshmukh, State Waqf Board chairman Syed Muhammad Ali Al-Hussaini, writer Veerashetty Garampalli and others were present.