Kerala Congress MLA contradicts Rahul Gandhi, says SIR helped in win against LDF; BJP reacts

Kerala Congress MLA-elect Mathew Kuzhalnadan on Wednesday claimed that the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise helped the UDF in the Assembly elections, a remark that sharply contradicts the party’s official line and its leader Rahul Gandhi who has been vehemently criticising the exercise.

Speaking to a news agency, Mathew Kuzhalnadan said that the SIR removed a lot of fake voters, which, according to him, were being managed by the CPI(M).

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“Of course, the SIR process also removed a lot of fake voters, which, in some constituencies at least, were managed by the CPI(M). So that also helped us,” he said.

The Congress-led UDF registered a landslide victory in Kerala, winning 99 of the 140 seats and reducing the CPI-led LDF to just 35.

The BJP was quick to react, saying the remarks of the Kerala MLA have exposed the “hypocrisy” of the Congress party over SIR.

“Rahul Gandhi screams dictatorship over SIR voter cleanup… But his own Congress MLA in Kerala proudly declares: ‘SIR removed thousands of fake CPI(M) voters and helped us win!’,” BJP’s Arunachal Pradesh unit wrote on social media.