Owaisi demands EC accept PAN card, driving licence for voter verification in SIR

AIMIM chairwoman Asaduddin Owaisi on th demanded that the EC take pan off cards, impulsive licences, and PDS ration cards as identity proofs for voter verification during the SIR.Speaking to reporters after a meeting of Muslim organisations here, he said that of the 12 identity proofs approved by the Election Commission, three are not available in Telangana.The three documents are the Permanent Residence Certificate, the NRC, and the Family Register (prepared by state or local authorities)."The EC itself has said the list of 12 documents is not exhaustive. It is therefore necessary that they accept the PAN card, driving licence, and food security card issued by the state government," he said.He urged Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy to make efforts to include the driving licence, PDS ration card, and other documents issued by the state government in the list of valid proofs for establishing voter identity.Since three documents on the approved list are unavailable in Telangana, he said, the CM and the state government's chief secretary should formally inform the EC about the documents issued by the state government that could serve as alternatives.He clarified that Permanent Residence Certificates and Family Registers are not issued in Telangana, and that the National Register of Citizens exercise has not been conducted in the state.The Special Intensive Revision is scheduled to be conducted in Telangana from June 15.Preparation of the electoral roll will be carried out from June 15 to 24, followed by house-to-house verification from June 25 to July 24.Raising concerns over "anomalies" found during the pre-SIR mapping exercise in the state, Owaisi claimed that they were as high as 90 per cent in one assembly constituency.Since pre-SIR mapping uses the 2002 electoral roll, voters should not be penalised for any inaccuracy in a list issued by the EC itself, he said, demanding that the Commission address the "anomalies".Observing that the AIMIM's effort is to ensure no eligible voter is left out of the electoral rolls, he claimed there are forces in the country that want certain voters excluded from voters' lists. Some are even talking about making such people stateless, he said.He said the AIMIM had developed a mobile app for the SIR containing both the 2002 and 2025 voters' lists, adding that it was the only party in the country to have made such an effort.When asked if he was scaremongering over SIR, Owaisi said he was making people aware and informed on the issue.In Assam, he said, the Supreme Court-monitored National Register of Citizens was conducted, and Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had announced that citizenship would be granted to non-Muslims, while Muslims would have to approach foreigners' tribunals.He asked whether this did not amount to discrimination.The BJP government in West Bengal, he said, was talking about removing those excluded from the SIR list from the PDS beneficiaries list."Please tell us how many infiltrators have been found in Bihar. It is a bordering state. The number is 57. Of them, how many are Muslims-eight or nine? Then where are the infiltrators? Twenty-seven lakh voters in Bengal are waiting for tribunals to hear their cases over SIR," he said."They are neither dead nor duplicate voters. If there are infiltrators, where are they? You should ask the ECI-they have not said anything about Bihar," he added.The EC is essentially doing the work of the National Population Register and the NRC as well, and that is the most unfortunate part, he said.On the killing of three Indian crew members in a US military strike on a commercial vessel off the Oman coast, Owaisi condemned the US action.US President Donald Trump "has gone mad" and is troubling the entire world, he claimed.He questioned whether the US CENTCOM does not know how many vessels are operating in the region, saying the entire area is in turmoil.On the rejection of Congress candidate Meenakshi Natarajan's nomination for the Rajya Sabha election in Madhya Pradesh, Owaisi said it is mandatory to disclose in the nomination form whether an FIR has been registered against a candidate.However, he added, senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi-a Congress Rajya Sabha member from Telangana-had pointed out that the complaint against Natarajan was a private one.