New Delhi [India], March 19 (ANI): BJP MP Nishikant Dubey on Thursday accused Congress of destroying constitutional institutions and alleged that opposition parties oppose the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) to strengthen their vote banks.

Dubey also cited past Election Commission controversies and claimed his party never challenged or sought impeachment against former commissioners.

Speaking to ANI, Dubey said, 'Congress has destroyed constitutional institutions. You must remember that MS Gill stepped down from the Election Commission. He solved Sonia Gandhi's citizenship issue. And the Election Commissioner became a Congress minister. TN Seshan, who became such a big name, contested the elections from Gandhinagar as a Congress candidate against the BJP... There are hundreds of such examples. But we never said anything against the Election Commissioner. We never brought an impeachment motion against him.'

'About SIR, Rajiv Gandhi said that the Election Commission should do this work... We never raised any questions. We contested elections... SIR is not a new thing. I think Congress and Mamata oppose it only to make Bangladeshi voters citizens and to strengthen their vote bank,' he said.

He further defended the SIR as a measure to ensure electoral integrity and accused Rahul Gandhi of questioning constitutional institutions under an agenda he linked to George Soros.

'Let SIR happen... In Bihar, till date, no one has said that I had voted at two places and the duplicate voters were not removed... I am saying that my father was also removed there... So I think it changes the goalposts. The entire agenda of Soros is to break this country into pieces, to tear this country apart, to attack all the constitutional institutions of this country... There is no such constitutional institution on which Rahul Gandhi does not raise questions. And behind Rahul Gandhi raising the question, there is Soros' agenda, who wants to break India into pieces,' he said.

On Sunday, the Election Commission of India (ECI) announced the schedule for Assembly elections in four states, West Bengal, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Assam, along with the Union Territory of Puducherry.

According to the schedule, polling in West Bengal will be conducted in two phases on April 23 and April 29. Kerala and Assam will vote in a single phase on April 9, while Tamil Nadu will go to the polls on April 23. Voting in Puducherry will also take place on April 9. The counting of votes for all four states and Puducherry will be held on May 4, the ECI announced. (ANI)