‘Congress Will Fight SIR Legally, Politically And Organisationally’

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday, November 18, raised serious questions over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls during a high-level meeting with key AICC office-bearers from 12 states and Union Territories where the revision is underway. He urged the party to combat the process politically, organizationally, and legally.

“The party must fight this politically, organisationally and legally,” Gandhi stated, emphasizing a multi-pronged approach to address the concerns.

He criticized the Election Commission, asserting that it is their duty to provide clean electoral rolls, but instead, they are shifting the responsibility to political parties. “It is the Election Commission’s duty to provide clean electoral rolls but instead, it was trying to put the onus on political parties,” Gandhi said, according to sources.

Gandhi alleged that the procedure is being implemented hastily and is intended to delete genuine voters. “The procedure is being adopted hurriedly and it is intended to delete genuine voters,” he claimed.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge escalated the accusations, accusing the BJP of attempting to “weaponise” the SIR exercise for “vote chori.” He warned that the Election Commission’s refusal to act would amount to “complicity through silence.”

“The Congress Party is unequivocally committed to safeguarding the integrity of the electoral rolls,” Kharge declared, adding that party workers, BLOs, and District/City/Block Presidents would remain “relentlessly vigilant.”

“We will expose every attempt — no matter how subtle — to delete genuine voters or insert bogus ones. The Congress Party will not allow democratic safeguards to be eroded by the partisan misuse of institutions,” he said.

The meeting, described as the party’s largest internal gathering focused solely on the SIR process, included top AICC in-charges, state unit presidents, Congress Legislative Party (CLP) leaders, and secretaries. Kharge, Gandhi, and AICC general secretary K.C. Venugopal chaired the review with state unit chiefs, CLP leaders, and secretaries from the affected regions.

“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 posted on X after the meeting.

This gathering follows the Bihar Assembly elections, where the INDIA bloc centered its campaign on “vote chori.” Gandhi had led a march in Bihar against alleged irregularities in electoral roll revisions. Party insiders revealed that Congress is reviewing organizational preparedness in states undergoing SIR.

The SIR exercise is active in West Bengal, Puducherry, Gujarat, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Rajasthan, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and Lakshadweep. States like West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Puducherry face elections in 2026, with Assam undergoing a separate revision.

Meanwhile, the Election Commission defended the process’s scale and transparency, noting that more than 50 crore out of nearly 51 crore electors have received SIR enumeration forms. Monday’s EC bulletin reported that enumeration teams have covered 98.32 percent of the 50.99 crore registered voters in participating states and UTs. The second phase, started on November 4, will run until December 4, covering 51 crore electors across nine states.

Congress’s stance underscores growing opposition concerns over electoral integrity, framing the SIR as a potential tool for manipulation. As investigations continue, the party vows to monitor and challenge any irregularities, highlighting the need for transparent democratic processes.