Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said the party must fight Special Intensive Revision (SIR), which is underway in several states, politically, organisationally, and legally.
At a meeting with key AICC office-bearers of 12 states and Union territories where the revision of electoral rolls is underway, the Congress leader said it is the Election Commission's duty to provide clean electoral rolls, but instead, it was trying to put the onus on political parties.
The 12 states and UTs where SIR is underway are Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Puducherry, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and Lakshadweep. Of these, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Kerala, and West Bengal will go to the polls in 2026.
Gandhi, according to news agency PTI, alleged that the the procedure is being adopted hurriedly and claimed that it is intended to delete genuine voters.
The Congress said the Election Commission's conduct during the SIR process has been "deeply disappointing" and demanded that the poll body must immediately demonstrate that it is not operating under the BJP's shadow.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, who chaired the meeting, alleged that the BJP is attempting to weaponise the process for "vote chori".
"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," Kharge said in a social media post after the meeting.
Rajasthan Congress President Govind Singh Dotasra said the meeting was regarding the conspiracy of the BJP and the RSS to steal votes through SIR. He claimed that the party devised a strategy to stop it and "ensure that our legitimate votes are not cut and they do not add their fake votes." |
