Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday stepped up his criticism of the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, calling the exercise a “Frankenstein Monster” and alleging that it could disenfranchise voters.
In a post on X, Kharge alleged that the SIR process, which began in Bihar and has now been undertaken in Delhi, was flawed and accused the BJP-led government of using it for “vote theft and dismantling democracy”. He also questioned the Election Commission over notices issued to several prominent electors.
Kharge listed former deputy prime minister L K Advani, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, former vice-president Jagdeep Dhankhar and other political figures among those who have received notices during the exercise. Several senior serving and retired officials have also received notices over discrepancies or lack of mapping with previous electoral records.
The Congress chief also raised questions over the Election Commission’s reference to “VIP/marked electors”, asking whether such classifications were compatible with the principle of universal adult franchise and “one person, one vote, one value”.
Kharge further cited figures from West Bengal to question the deletion of names from electoral rolls and alleged that a large number of voters were being wrongly excluded. The Election Commission, however, has told the Supreme Court that 38.20 lakh appeals had been filed against deletion and inclusion decisions in West Bengal, of which 1.02 lakh had been disposed of as of September 18.
The controversy in Delhi centres on notices issued to electors whose details showed discrepancies or could not be mapped with earlier electoral records. Reports said around 33 lakh electors, including prominent political figures, received notices requiring them to establish their eligibility to remain on the rolls.
The Delhi Chief Electoral Officer has clarified that receiving a notice does not mean that an elector’s name will automatically be deleted. The electoral authorities have also maintained that the prescribed procedure must be followed before deletion and that electors must be given an opportunity to respond.
The SIR exercise is aimed at verifying and updating electoral rolls. The Delhi CEO’s official schedule says electors are being asked to provide details linked to previous electoral rolls as part of the verification process.
The issue is also headed for judicial scrutiny, with the Supreme Court scheduled to hear on September 22 a plea seeking greater transparency over the names and reasons cited in notices issued to Delhi electors.
