ECI furthering BJP's 'vote chori' agenda, says Venugopal on SIR exercise

by IANS |

New Delhi, Nov 18 (IANS) Congress General Secretary K.C. Venugopal on Tuesday said that the Special Intensive Review (SIR) is a way for the Election Commission of India (ECI) to further the BJP's "vote chori agenda" and "setting aside the obligations" of the Constitutional institution.

Congress National President Mallikarjun Kharge held an extensive strategy review with senior party leaders to discuss the ongoing Special Intensive Review being carried out by the Election Commission of India (ECI) across several states.

The meeting was attended by party General Secretaries, In-Charges, PCC and CLP leaders, along with Secretaries from the states and union territories where the SIR process is currently underway.

Following the meeting, Venugopal took to X and posted, "Under the leadership of INC President Mallikarjun Kharge and LoP Rahul Gandhi, attended the review meeting with AICC General Secretaries, In-Charges, PCC Presidents, CLP Leaders and AICC Secretaries from 12 states where the SIR is underway."

The Congress Alappuzha MP stressed that although the revision of the electoral rolls is an "undeniably necessary objective", it must be carried out in a "bonafide manner."

"The ECI's conduct thus far has been to further the BJP's Vote Chori agenda, setting aside its Constitutional obligation of impartiality," he said.

Venugopal further said that the party will "relentlessly fight" against the ECI's "attempts to manipulate voter rolls through unfair deletions or the insertion of bogus voters to create space for the BJP to carry out its nefarious activities".

"It is our democracy at stake, we will stand up to every attempt -- big or small -- that threatens our Constitutional framework," he added.

The meeting comes at a time when the Congress is facing internal and external pressure following its steep defeat in the Bihar Assembly elections, where the party secured only six seats.