Congress Sounds Alarm Over Electoral Roll Revision Process
Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has raised serious concerns about the Election Commission's Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process during a crucial meeting with AICC office-bearers from twelve states and Union Territories. The meeting, held on Tuesday, focused on addressing what the party perceives as fundamental flaws in the ongoing electoral roll revision.
According to sources quoted by PTI, Gandhi emphasized that the Congress needs to counter this development "politically, organisationally and legally". He argued that while the Election Commission should bear primary responsibility for ensuring accurate electoral rolls, it appears to be shifting this burden onto political parties.
Congress Leadership Unites Against SIR Implementation
The high-level review meeting witnessed participation from top Congress leadership, including party president Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi himself, and AICC general secretary K C Venugopal. They were joined by state unit chiefs, CLP leaders, and secretaries from all regions undergoing the Special Intensive Revision process.
Kharge, who led the meeting, strongly accused the BJP of utilizing the SIR process as a tool for "vote chori" (vote theft). Taking to social media platform X, the Congress president stated, "We held a comprehensive strategy review with AICC general secretaries, AICC in-charges, PCCs, CLPs and AICC secretaries from the states/UTs where the SIR process is underway. The Congress Party is unequivocally committed to safeguarding the integrity of the electoral rolls."
Massive Scale of Electoral Roll Revision Revealed
As the opposition intensifies its campaign against the SIR process, the Election Commission has reported staggering statistics about the exercise's scale. Official data shows that over 50.25 crore enumeration forms have been distributed across the twelve states and Union Territories, reaching an impressive 98.54 per cent of the 50.97 crore eligible voters.
The first phase of the Special Intensive Revision covers extensive regions including Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Puducherry, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and Lakshadweep. Notably, four of these regions - Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Kerala and West Bengal - are scheduled to hold elections in 2026.
Meanwhile, the second phase of SIR commenced on November 4 and will continue until December 4, maintaining the intensive revision schedule.
Bihar Election Results Fuel Congress Concerns
The Congress party's apprehensions about electoral integrity have been amplified following their significant defeat in Bihar, where the NDA secured 202 seats compared to the Mahagathbandhan's 35. During his Bihar campaign, Rahul Gandhi consistently raised allegations of "vote chori", and last week he described the final results as "surprising" while questioning the election's fairness.
The party has explicitly alleged that the Bihar results demonstrated "vote chori on a gigantic scale -- masterminded by the prime minister, the home minister, the EC". Gandhi indicated that both the Congress and the broader INDIA bloc would conduct a thorough analysis of the election outcomes to understand the underlying factors.
With Assam receiving approval for a 'special revision' of electoral rolls on Monday, and several major states preparing for 2026 elections, the controversy surrounding the Special Intensive Revision process shows no signs of abating as political tensions continue to escalate.
