SIR less about cleansing electoral rolls, more about 'destroying' democracy: Congress

The Congress on Thursday cited the Election Commission's own 2024 survey of all 243 Assembly constituencies in Bihar to allege that the Special Intensive Revision is less about cleansing electoral rolls and more about "destroying democracy itself".

Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh shared a media report on X which claimed that while the Election Commission has launched a special intensive revision (SIR) to clean up Bihar's electoral rolls, its own 2024 KAP (knowledge, attitude and practices) survey on voter insights noted the perceived "near-perfect accuracy of voter listings" in Bihar reflecting the "robustness of the electoral roll system".

"The Election Commission's own 2024 KAP (Knowledge, Attitude, and Practices) survey of all 243 Assembly constituencies in Bihar just after the 2024 Lok Sabha Elections stated that Rolls are already at 'near perfect accuracy'. Many eligible citizens are still unenrolled - thanks to paperwork & lack of awareness," Ramesh said on X.

The ECI's focus should be inclusion, not exclusion, since many respondents cited complexities in securing their voter cards, Ramesh said on X.

"Clearly the ECI did not believe that there was any compelling need to conduct a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of Bihar's electoral rolls as recently as January 2025. What has changed since then?" he said.

Was it perhaps the plea of a prime minister desperate to secure his post and safeguard his ramshackle NDA coalition through the promise of a rigged election in Bihar, Ramesh asked.

"The SIR is less about cleansing electoral rolls, it is more about destroying democracy itself," he said.