Congress accuses the Election Commission of using the SIR process to delete voters and undermine democracy, announcing a major protest rally in early December.
Congress leaders meet in New Delhi to strategise amid escalating tensions over the Election Commission’s SIR voter revision exercise (Photo: File)
New Delhi: With the Election Commission carrying out special intensive revision of voter.rolls in 12 states and union territories, the Congress on Tuesday called the exercise as "a process of destroying g democracy and opposition" and deleting genuine voters and announced that it will be hold a.mega rally in the national capital in Secember first week when the Parliament's Womter Session.
The Congress held a meeting of party state incharges, state presidents, secretaries and senior leaders at the party headquarters here where party chief Mallikarjun Kharge chaired the meeting and was.also attended by Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, former union ministers and CWC members P Chidambaram, Avinash Pandey, Sachin Pilot, Ghulam Ahmed Mir, Salman Khurshid, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury mong others.
The meeting lasted for over two hours, where the senior leaders had a detailed discussion on the SIR exercise.
Kharge took to X and wrote, "We held a comprehensive strategy review with AICC General Secretaries, AICC In-Charges, PCCs, CLPs, and AICC Secretaries from the states/UTs where the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process is underway."
Khaege asserted that the Congress is unequivocally committed to safeguarding the integrity of the electoral rolls.
"At a time when public confidence in democratic institutions is already strained, the Election Commission’s conduct during the SIR process has been deeply disappointing," he said.
"It must immediately demonstrate that it is not operating under the BJP’s shadow and it remembers its Constitutional oath and allegiance to the people of India, not to any ruling party," he said taking a jibe at the poll panel and thr BJP.
"We firmly believe that the BJP is attempting to weaponise the SIR process for Vote Chori. And if the EC chooses to look the other way, that failure is not just administrative - it becomes a complicity of silence. Our workers, BLOs, and District/City/Block Presidents will therefore remain relentlessly vigilant. We will expose every attempt, however subtle, to delete genuine voters or insert bogus ones. The Congress Party will not allow Democratic safeguards to be eroded by partisan misuse of institutions," he added.
Meanwhile, Congress General Secretary (Organisation) KC Venugopal spoke to media and said, "EC is trying to delete some sect of the society. The design of the SIR is to delete targeted votes."
He referred to the Commission decision about special revision of voter rolls in Assam and said that there is no role of BLA in Assam.
"It is a sinister attempt to destroy democracy in country. Completely unethical and undemocratic," Venugopal lamented.
He also ment9oned about the pressure on BLOs by the poll panel and how three of them committed suicide and asked what is the necessity.
"EC doesn't listen anything. This is clear that they work on behalf of Narendra Modi and the BJP," he alleged, adding that Kharge and Rahul Gandhi alerted the party leaders about the motive of EC.
"Motive of EC js to destroy democracy, destroy opposition parties," the Congress leader said.
Venugopal also announced that in the first week of December, during the Wonter Session of Parliament, the Congress will hold a mega rally in Ram Lila Maidan and expose the poll panel.
