Mumbai: Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has accused the opposition of using its resistance to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls as a pretext to pursue what he described as a “regime change” agenda outside the democratic process.
In a post on X, Fadnavis alleged that opposition leaders had exposed their intentions by speaking about changing the regime, claiming they saw little prospect of returning to power through votes cast by eligible voters.
He alleged that attempts to create unrest in the country were aimed at capturing power without following democratic procedures.
“Why don’t they want SIR? Because they want to change the regime,” Fadnavis said, arguing that opposition to the voter-list revision was not merely an administrative disagreement but reflected a broader political agenda.
The Maharashtra CM further alleged that the opposition wanted to overthrow the government without seeking a mandate through elections. He described the resistance to SIR as a pretext and claimed that the real issue was opposition to democratic processes and the voting rights of eligible citizens.
Fadnavis urged people to consider whether they supported democratic methods of changing governments or what he characterised as calls for regime change outside the electoral process.
“Without SIR, there’s no alternative for democracy,” he said, defending the electoral-roll revision exercise.
His remarks come amid political disagreements over SIR, with its supporters presenting it as a measure to review electoral rolls and critics raising concerns about its implementation and potential impact on voters.
