New Delhi – On Tuesday Congress leaders announced a big rally at Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan that will take place next month. The party plans to draw a huge crowd to protest what it says is “vote‑stealing” by the Election Commission during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter lists in 12 states.
The announcement followed a high‑level meeting of Congress heads in Delhi. Party president Mallikarjun Kharge chaired the session, and Rahul Gandhi, the opposition leader in the lower house, took part. Senior officials, state unit presidents, and legislators met to discuss strategy as the Election Commission rolls out SIR in a number of states.
During the talks, Kharge said the party is committed to protecting voters’ rights. He slammed the Election Commission’s handling of the SIR exercise, claiming it undermines public trust in India’s democratic institutions. “When confidence in our electoral system is already fragile, the Commission’s conduct is deeply disappointing,” he said. Kharge warned that the SIR could be used to delete targeted voters and give an advantage to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He urged the poll body to prove it is not operating under political influence and to keep its constitutional oath to the people.
AICC general secretary K. C. Venugopal and national spokesperson Pawan Khera added that the Congress team had studied the SIR process extensively. Venugopal insisted that the revision is designed to remove specific names from voter rolls, citing Bihar as an example where similar tactics have been used. He said the exercise is being rushed; normally it should take six months to a year. He highlighted that officials in Kerala, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh are under extreme pressure, with reports of suicides among voting staff. In Kerala, the state assembly recently passed a resolution to postpone the SIR, and the Chief Electoral Officer has asked the Election Commission to delay the work, but the body has ignored the request.
Venugopal announced the congress rally at Ramlila Maidan will be a “massive” event to fight what it calls the Commission’s “attempt to destroy democracy.” Kera echoed this view, saying that all Congress leaders met on Tuesday agreed that the SIR is meant for deletion, not for adding names. They accused the Commission of politicalisation and demanded a fair voter‐list process.
The Congress rally, set to take place next month, is part of the party’s campaign to expose alleged vote‑stealing practices and protect the integrity of India’s electoral rolls amid a nationwide signature drive that reportedly collected five crore signatures against the SIR. The party is positioning itself as the defender of voters’ rights against what it sees as a biased election body and an election system that favors the BJP.
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