Nagpur, Oct 26 (PTI) Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Sunday termed the Opposition’s November 1 protest against voter lists as “cover fire” before its “impending” defeat in the upcoming local bodies polls.

Talking to reporters here, Fadnavis said he had moved the Bombay High Court in 2012 for a complete revision of voter lists.

“I welcome the decision to conduct Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voters’ list in the country. I would recommend that electoral rolls be prepared in blockchain method,” he said.

If a voter moves to a different state, his voter ID should remain the same, Fadnavis said.

The Election Commission (EC) will hold a press conference to announce pan-India SIR of voters’ list on Monday evening, officials have said.

“There have been summary revisions of electoral rolls for the last 25 years, and it is high time a complete revision was done,” he said.

The CM slammed the Opposition over its announcement to hold a grand rally on November 1 to urge the EC to remove around “one crore bogus voters” from the electoral rolls.

“The Opposition is disillusioned and knows that their defeat in the coming elections is inevitable. The protest is cover fire before defeat,” he said.

Local body elections in Maharashtra will likely be held in the coming months.

Fadnavis said “note theft” has stopped, and hence, the Opposition is claiming “vote theft”. “But public sab janti hai (the public knows everything),” he said.

On the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi’s claim that the suicide of a woman doctor in Satara district has exposed the “inhumane and callous face of this BJP government”, Fadnavis said the suicide note is clear and action is being taken accordingly.

“I have already said no one will be spared. It is sad that Rahul Gandhi and the Congress are politicising such a sensitive matter,” he said. PTI MR NR