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New Delhi, Oct 28 (IANS) As the Election Commission of India (ECI) began the second phase of special intensive revision (SIR) of voter lists in 12 states and union territories, including Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Kerala and Puducherry, opposition parties including the Congress and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) on Tuesday accused the government of misusing the ECI to change the Constitution by other means. Congress MP Pramod Tiwari, speaking to IANS, said, “What was his slogan inside Parliament, outside Parliament and in public rallies? ‘This time we cross 400.’ His intention was clear – to change the Constitution and take away the voting rights of minorities, backward classes and scheduled castes. When they failed to do so directly, they started using ECI through mechanisms like NRC. That is why yesterday the Election Commission could not even tell which caste or religion the names removed from the voter list belonged to.” Congress spokesperson Surendra Rajput questioned the transparency of the process, saying, “The SIR should be announced in a proper and legal manner. But in Bihar, where it was implemented, many questions remain unanswered. Even now, the Election Commission should clarify how many new voters have been added, how many infiltrators’ votes have been withheld, and address all the questions raised by political parties regarding infiltrators. How many such names were removed? Public “Deserves transparency.” Congress spokesperson Abhay Dubey also expressed similar concerns, alleging that the BJP was using the Election Commission for political gains. He said, “Modi government and BJP gave the slogan of ‘400 Plus’ because they wanted to weaken the Constitution made by BR Ambedkar. The people of India stopped them once, but now they are trying to achieve their goals through the Election Commission. The ECI claimed that the SIR was successful in Bihar, but everyone in Bihar knows how the names of voters were removed illegally.” RJD leader and CM face of the Grand Alliance, Tejashwi Yadav said, “This exercise was pre-planned. They already said they would do it and now they are moving forward with it. There is no surprise.” Jan Suraj Party founder Prashant Kishor also reacted and said, “BJP can use all the tactics it wants – remove names, scare people, or harass them. But, when the public turns against you, no SIR or FIR can save you.” JMM spokesperson Manoj Pandey said, “India should not allow our rights to be snatched away, especially fundamental rights like voting. The BJP government is making exactly the same efforts. It is the duty of every citizen and political party to protect these democratic rights.” Samajwadi Party MP Awadhesh Prasad said, “No voter should be left out of the voter list. No one should lose the right to vote – the most precious right given to us by BR Ambedkar. There is nothing more valuable than this.” –IANS JK/Mr