Mallikarjun Kharge, Congress leader, has criticized the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls as a 'flawed process' that is causing issues for even BJP leaders. He also raised concerns about the deletion of voter names in several states, including Bengal.
On Monday, Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge expressed his concerns over the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, deeming it a 'flawed process' that is causing issues for even BJP leaders. He stated, 'SIR is not just a tool used by the BJP for vote theft and dismantling democracy – it’s a flawed process that has turned into a Frankenstein Monster, now trapping its own people!'.
Kharge pointed out that several BJP leaders, including former Deputy Prime Minister Lal Krishna Advani and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, besides Rajya Sabha MPs, a former Union minister, and an ex-chief minister, have been served notices by the Election Commission to prove their eligibility to vote. He also mentioned that even a Bharat Ratna-awardee scientist and former Navy chief had already been issued notices earlier.
The Congress leader further added that in Bengal, 'among those whose names were deleted to prevent them from voting', 93% of the appeals decided by the tribunals resulted in the inclusion of voters in the electoral rolls. He questioned, 'On what basis was their voting right stripped away?'
Kharge also raised concerns about the deletion of voter names across several states. He mentioned that 13.8 crore voters had been removed from the voter lists of 31 states and Union Territories so far. This accounts for 14.6% of India’s 94.7 crore voters before the exercise began in 2025.
He further expressed his concern that the Election Commission had issued a press release using the phrase “VIP/marked” electors, and asked, 'Is there now some special category of voters in India’s universal adult franchise – VIP voters and ordinary voters?' He questioned if this was a violation of the constitutional principle of one person, one vote, one value. He also raised concerns about whether the 'VIP vote' has become more valuable.
The claims and objections against exclusions from the draft voter list as part of the third SIR phase in 19 states and Union Territories are underway. Final electoral rolls in these states will be published in October and November.
Source:
Scroll.in
