Cong reviews SIR process, says EC’s conduct ‘deeply disappointing’

New Delhi: Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday held a meeting with senior party leaders from 12 states currently undergoing the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. The interaction took place at Indira Bhawan in the national capital.

Kharge said the meeting reviewed strategies with AICC general secretaries, in-charges, PCC chiefs, CLP leaders, and secretaries from states and Union Territories where the SIR process is in progress.

Reiterating the party’s stand, Kharge said the Congress is “unequivocally committed to safeguarding the integrity of the electoral rolls.” He criticised the Election Commission’s handling of the revision exercise, saying its conduct had been “deeply disappointing” at a time when public confidence in democratic institutions was already strained.

He urged the Commission to demonstrate independence and ensure it is not “operating under the BJP’s shadow,” adding that its allegiance must remain to the Constitution and the people of India.

Kharge alleged that the BJP was attempting to “weaponise the SIR process for vote chori,” and warned that if the Election Commission failed to intervene, “that failure is not just administrative — it becomes a complicity of silence.”

He said Congress workers, BLOs, and local party units would remain vigilant and would expose any attempt to delete genuine voters or insert bogus entries. “The Congress Party will not allow democratic safeguards to be eroded by partisan misuse of institutions,” Kharge added.

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