Cong leader Venugopal accuses EC of targeting marginalised voters through SIR

Kolkata, Sep 11 (PTI) In a sharply worded attack on the Election Commission, senior Congress leader KC Venugopal on Thursday accused the poll body of misusing the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process to selectively delete voters from marginalised communities.

Alleging that the EC was no longer impartial, he accused it of acting in favour of the ruling BJP government.

"The SIR was planned by the EC to delete some electors, specially targeting votes of the SC, ST, OBC, minorities, and poor people of the country. What's the motive behind doing it just before the elections?" Venugopal asked, questioning both the timing and intention behind the drive.

The Congressman, who is in Kolkata to address the party's organisational meeting, was speaking to journalists here.

"The EC is clearly a party to this. It's completely backing the government. They have lost their neutrality," he said.

The Congress leader further criticised the lack of transparency and stakeholder consultation around the process.

"There should have been a discussion with all political parties before such a massive drive. That was not done," he added.

While acknowledging the importance of maintaining a clean and accurate electoral rolls, Venugopal drew a sharp line between genuine correction and politically motivated deletion.

"We are asking for a free and fair election. If SIR was done to correct the electoral rolls and ensure genuine voters, then it's okay. But if it's to delete voters, how can you support that?" he questioned.

He further linked the SIR exercise to a broader BJP strategy to polarise the electorate and distract them from real issues.

"BJP has only one design, to polarise the people, whether by SIR or through manipulation of the voters' list. They are trying to divert people's attention from the genuine issues. But voters have realised that," he emphasised.

Referring to the just-concluded election of vice president, Venugopal denied to answer directly on the issue of cross-voting, but went on to position the Congress and the INDIA alliance as defenders of democratic values and constitutional integrity.

"The INDIA alliance's unity is intact. We knew that the vice presidential election was going to be an ideal fight, and in that way, we were successful," he said.

He also credited the recent vote as a sign that the alliance's ideological base remains strong.

"Those who believed in the ideology of the India alliance, voted for our candidate. Congress is fighting for ideology all over the nation, for the Constitution," he said.

Asked whether the Congress would be going alone or get into an alliance with the Left Front for 2026 assembly polls, Venugopal said that would be decided by the party's West Bengal unit.

"The PCC will decide. They have their freedom. They will discuss and come up with a solution to the party high command," he said.

Earlier, he charged the BJP with attempting to divert people's attention from Rahul Gandhi's accusation of vote theft.

The Congress MP also criticised the EC, accusing it of siding with the BJP-led government at the Centre to "sabotage" normal polls.

"The BJP is attempting to divert attention from Rahul Gandhi's statements on 'vote chori' by engaging in deliberate deflection tactics. Whenever a truth comes from Rahul Gandhi, this is the strategy by the BJP," said Venugopal, who is in the city to chair an organisational meeting of the party.

He claimed that all over India, people believe in vote theft. PTI SCH NN MNB