ISLAMABAD: Indian opposition political party Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge accused the ruling Bhartiya Janata Party of “weaponizing” the voter registration revision process for electoral manipulation, warning that the Election Commission risks complicity if it fails to act.

On Tuesday, Indian National Congress (INC) President Mallikarjun Kharge and Leader of the Opposition in the Indian Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, chaired a meeting of senior leaders from 12 states where the Election Commission of India (ECI) is conducting a voter registration overhaul.

According to an Indian media report, the second phase of the voter registration overhaul, called the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), is being carried out in 12 states and territories, including Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Puducherry, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and Lakshadweep.

Of these, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Kerala, and West Bengal are headed for assembly elections in 2026, it states.

Exclusion of over 6 million names

Earlier this year, the ECI conducted a similar revision in the eastern state of Bihar, home to more than 130 million people, ahead of its state elections that were held from Nov. 6.

The process led to the exclusion of around 6.5 million names, which the ECI said was necessary to prevent the inclusion of "foreign illegal immigrants."

India launched the second phase of the SIR on Nov. 4, expanding a contentious exercise that activists warn could fuel disenfranchisement in the world's largest democracy, according to an AFP report.

‘Disenfranchise vulnerable populations’

Opposition parties, including the Congress and regional stalwarts, such as West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, have earlier decried the exercise as tantamount to the National Register of Citizens process, according to an Indian media report published before the recent Bihar polls.

They had warned that asking for extensive proof of birth and parentage, especially mere months before an election, could disenfranchise the state’s most vulnerable populations, the report said.

Supreme Court approached

The Indian Union Muslim League has approached the Supreme Court seeking a stay on the ongoing SIR of the voters’ list in Kerala ahead of the local body elections, Indian media reported on Tuesday.

Moreover, political leaders from Tamil Nadu and West Bengal have also challenged the SIR of electoral rolls in their respective states in the Indian Supreme Court, according to Indian media.

Official version

According to the state-run, Press Information Bureau, "the objective of an intensified revision is to ensure that the names of all eligible citizens are included in the Electoral Roll so as to enable them to exercise their franchise, no ineligible voter is included in the electoral rolls and also to introduce complete transparency in the process of addition or deletion of electors in the electoral rolls."

‘Comprehensive strategy review’

The INC President, Kharge, after the meeting in a post on X, on Tuesday, wrote: “We held a comprehensive strategy review with AICC General Secretaries, AICC In-Charges, PCCs, CLPs, and AICC Secretaries from the states/UTs where the SIR process is underway.”

“The Congress Party is unequivocally committed to safeguarding the integrity of the electoral rolls,” he said.

Regarding the role of the Election Commission of India, “at a time when public confidence in democratic institutions is already strained, the Election Commission’s conduct during the SIR process has been deeply disappointing."

“It must immediately demonstrate that it is not operating under the BJP’s shadow and it remembers its Constitutional oath and allegiance to the people of India, not to any ruling party,” Kharge wrote.

Hitting out at the ruling BJP, the INC president said: “We firmly believe that the BJP is attempting to weaponise the SIR process for Vote Chori [theft]”, adding, “And if the EC chooses to look the other way, that failure is not just administrative -- it becomes a complicity of silence.”

“The Congress Party will not allow Democratic safeguards to be eroded by partisan misuse of institutions,” he added.

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Indian Congress alleges BJP ‘weaponizing’ voter-list revision for ‘vote theft’