Congress Accuses Election Commission of Voter Disenfranchisement in Delhi

The Indian National Congress has accused the Election Commission of India of using the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls to systematically disenfranchise voters who do not align with the Bharatiya Janata Party. The controversy peaked after the issuance of 33.13 lakh notices to voters in Delhi due to discrepancies between current enumeration forms and records from 2002. Congress leaders Jairam Ramesh and Mallikarjun Kharge characterized the process as a "Method Of Disenfranchising Indians"—an acronym for "MODI"—and a "Shah Instigated Removal" of voters.

Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge described the SIR as a "Frankenstein monster" used for vote theft, noting that notices reached high-ranking officials including External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Delhi LG Taranjit Singh Sandhu. The party alleges that 13.8 crore voters across 31 states and union territories were struck off rolls, disproportionately affecting women and slum dwellers. Simultaneously, Trinamool Congress leader Saket Gokhale questioned the citizenship and registration status of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, alleging his name was missing from previous SIR lists in several regions.

The Election Commission maintains the revision is a necessary measure to remove duplicate and ineligible entries. The Office of the Chief Electoral Officer in Delhi defended the notices as system-generated corrections for the ECINET database, stating there is no existential crisis. The commission is organizing special camps to ensure eligible voters are not excluded, with a resolution deadline of October 29.