The BJP and Congress are locked in a heated standoff over the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls, with the Opposition alleging widespread voter deletion and the BJP labeling the claims as misinformation and political anarchy.
Political Tensions Over Electoral Roll Revision
New Delhi [India], November 3 (ANI): The political confrontation between Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls intensified on Tuesday, with the Opposition alleging large-scale deletion of genuine voters and demanding accountability from the Election Commission, while the ruling party accused Congress of spreading misinformation and attempting to create distrust in democratic institutions. The exchange came amid protests by the INDIA bloc against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and the SIR exercise, and a series of counter-mobilisation programmes by the BJP under the slogan ‘Save Democracy, Remove Anarchy’.
The fresh round of sparring came after the INDIA bloc’s mega rally at Ramlila Maidan on November 1, where Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi said Gyanesh Kumar would be removed from his post and jailed, accusing him of facilitating alleged vote theft. Union Home Minister Amit Shah, speaking in Raipur, challenged Gandhi to take the debate to Parliament. “Congress party has consistently supported unconstitutional governments and parallel parliaments…they also mocked the actual Parliament by setting up a mock parliament and staging a charade of debate. I want to tell you, Rahul Gandhi, that the Narendra Modi government is prepared to discuss every single issue. We are ready to convene a special session to hold discussions on SIR…you have brought Parliament to a standstill—you have effectively held it hostage. Now, allow Parliament to function and engage in a proper debate. The people of this country will then see for themselves who is speaking the truth and who is not,” Shah said.
Political Sparring and Allegations
Reacting to the challenge in Delhi, Congress MP Pramod Tiwari said, “After the elections, when you will be out of power, we will give a healthy alternative. Its name was to impeach Gyanesh Kumar. I can only say this much; understand its importance. Such programmes happen in democracy. If you don’t understand, I can’t say anything.” BJP Vice President Ram Madhav, addressing a press conference in Jammu, accused the Congress of spreading “false propaganda” around the SIR exercise to undermine public confidence in democratic institutions. He alleged that the Opposition was attempting to trigger a “Bangladesh- or Nepal-style regime change” by creating unrest. “Their leaders are clearly saying on TV and on social media that they want to do a Bangladesh-style or Nepal-style regime change. Their intentions are clear: they can’t defeat the BJP or Modi ji through democratic elections. That’s why they are spreading lies and creating anarchy in the country in whatever way they can. If possible, topple the government through that anarchy,” he said.
Defending the exercise, Madhav said, “The ongoing SIR process in the country has been completed in many states, including Jammu and Kashmir, and is still pending in other states. This is a constitutional process. All the accusations the Congress has made about it are completely false.” Dismissing the Congress claim that 13 crore names had been deleted, he said, “Despite campaigning so much, the Congress party couldn’t even get one person on stage to say, ‘My name was struck off.'” He added that the deletions were due to deaths and migration. “Around 90 lakh people die in India every year… Now, 20 years later, when electoral rolls are cleaned up, the names of deceased people have to be removed.” Madhav also alleged that illegal migrants were being weeded out. “A lot of people have illegally come into India from neighbouring countries. They’ve settled down in Jammu. Rohingyas have settled here. Such people’s names are being removed. Does Congress want infiltrators to have the right to vote in India?” he asked.
BJP Counter-Campaigns
Meanwhile, the BJP took to the streets across states under its ‘Loktantra Bachao, Arajakta Hatao’ programme. In Rudrapur, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami led a rally at Gandhi Park and accused the Congress of “politics of anarchy and negativity.” “Sometimes they spread anarchy over the SIR issue. Is SIR happening for the first time? They (opposition) are taking out ‘nyay yatra’,” Dhami said. “If any party has given birth to corruption, it is Congress. Those who gave birth to corruption are today working to spread anarchy in the country,” he added. He further described the Congress as the “mother of corruption” and accused it of attempting to create unrest in the country.
In Nirmal, Telangana BJP President Ramchander Rao said the party had launched a programme titled ‘Save Democracy, Remove Anarchy.’ “The Congress party is spreading a false narrative over SIR and vote chori. There was huge public participation. We condemn the attitude of the Congress party because the SIR exercise was also conducted during Congress rule. However, when the BJP is conducting it now, they are spreading falsehoods. The SIR is meant only to include genuine voters and remove bogus voters,” he said. In Thiruvananthapuram, Keralam BJP chief Rajeev Chandrasekhar accused Congress of double standards. “The same Congress that has welcomed SIR in Kerala is protesting against it in Delhi. This double standard, hypocrisy and fraudulent politics must be exposed, and the people of Kerala will expose it. If there is any party in this country that is protecting India, Indian democracy and the Indian Constitution, it is the BJP under the leadership of our leader Narendra Modi Ji,” he said.
Opposition Perspective and Election Commission Stance
The Opposition hit back with its own set of questions. Ahead of Rahul Gandhi’s rally in Sangrur on Wednesday, Congress MP Charanjit Singh Channi said, “Throughout the entire previous parliamentary session, we — led by Rahul Gandhi — repeatedly demanded a discussion on the SIR issue, but the BJP did not allow even a single day of debate. Today, we reiterate our call for a discussion, yet they never address the core issues; in fact, both Amit Shah and the Prime Minister consistently shy away from participating in parliamentary sessions.” Uttar Pradesh Congress President Aradhana Mishra ‘Mona’ questioned the differing claims made by Shah and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on voter deletions. “On one hand, the country’s Home Minister is saying that the names of 3 crore infiltrators have been removed, and on the other hand, the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh is saying that 1.25 crore names have been wrongly removed from SIR; so whose statement should be believed?” she asked.
Amid the political face-off, the Election Commission of India issued a clarification to the Chief Electoral Officers of all States/UTs on Form 6. It said no action under Section 31 of the Representation of the people Act, 1950, shall be initiated by an Electoral Registration Officer against an elector “merely on the ground that the elector had been included in a previous electoral roll and has submitted Form 6 during the SIR process or afterwards, provided that the elector is not already enrolled in any other Parliamentary or Assembly Constituency and the declaration made is otherwise in accordance with law.” The Commission said some previous electors whose names are missing from the draft roll were hesitant to file Form 6, fearing a false declaration since it states that their name is being included for the first time. It cited the Delhi High Court’s October 14 ruling in Nilotpal Datta & Anr. v. Election Commission of India & Ors., which held such apprehensions to be misplaced, and asked the CEOs to give the clarification wide publicity in local languages.
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