The Congress on Friday, October 2, intensified its criticism of the Election Commission of India’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, describing the exercise as “Mass Disenfranchisement of Indians (MODI) through Shah Instigated Removal (SIR)”.
Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh alleged that the voter verification exercise had drastically reduced the country’s electorate, reversing nearly a decade of growth in registered voters. He raised concerns over the deletion of millions of names from electoral rolls and accused the Election Commission of failing to protect eligible citizens’ voting rights.
The Congress leader’s remarks came amid an escalating political confrontation between the opposition and the Election Commission over voter registration, electoral transparency and the functioning of the poll panel.
Jairam Ramesh Cites Decline in Electorate
In a post on X, Ramesh referred to an analysis published in a business daily, claiming that the electorate across 31 states and Union territories had increased from approximately 81.7 crore in 2015 to nearly 95 crore before the SIR exercise began.
However, according to the figures cited by him, the number subsequently declined to around 81.8 crore following the revision.
Calling the reversal unprecedented, Ramesh alleged that more than 13 crore voters had been removed at the draft-roll stage.
He further claimed that the actual number of deletions could be higher, as the revision process was still underway in 14 states and Union territories.
The Congress has maintained that such large-scale changes require greater transparency and explanations from the Election Commission.
Maharashtra and Delhi Voter Deletions Highlighted
Ramesh also cited Maharashtra as an example of what he described as irregularities in the electoral revision process.
According to his statement, the state’s electorate increased by 5.6 per cent between the 2024 Lok Sabha election and the SIR exercise, before declining by 21 per cent following the revision.
He described the figures as part of an alleged “Vote Chori” pattern.
The Congress leader also claimed that Delhi’s electorate had declined by 16 per cent compared with its 2014 level.
These figures were presented by Ramesh as evidence supporting the party’s allegations against the revision exercise. The Election Commission’s stated objective, however, is to update electoral rolls by removing duplicate, deceased and otherwise ineligible entries while ensuring eligible citizens remain registered.
Congress Accuses Election Commission of Violating Electoral Laws
Apart from voter deletions, the Congress raised concerns over the functioning of the Election Commission’s ECINet platform.
Ramesh questioned the poll panel’s September 26 announcement that a committee would be constituted to certify the platform’s compliance with relevant laws and rules.
He argued that the Election Commission had previously assured citizens that ECINet was developed in accordance with the Constitution, the Representation of the People Acts of 1950 and 1951, and the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960.
The Congress leader also alleged that restricting Electoral Registration Officers’ access to the voter-roll system and overriding their authority in states such as Goa and West Bengal violated statutory provisions.
These allegations have not been established as judicial findings.