Congress leader and Lok Sabha Leader of the Opposition, Rahul Gandhi, issued a stern warning to the Election Commission of India (ECI) on Thursday, accusing it of aiding voter manipulation under the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise in Bihar.
Speaking to reporters outside Parliament after the House was adjourned, Gandhi declared, “If you think you are going to get away with it, you are mistaken. We are going to come for you.” The remarks came amid growing opposition protests alleging large-scale irregularities in voter additions and deletions.
Gandhi claimed that the Congress has “100 per cent proof” of the Election Commission permitting voter list tampering in a Karnataka constituency. “Thousands of votes, aged 50, 60, 65, have been added. At the same time, names of legitimate voters aged over 18 have been deleted,” he said, though no concrete evidence has yet been shared publicly.
The Congress and other opposition parties, including the Samajwadi Party and DMK, have been staging protests within Parliament premises, accusing the ECI of undermining democracy and disenfranchising marginalised voters. The MPs carried placards reading “SIR is the murder of democracy” and “Justice, Justice, Justice.”
Reiterating his stance, Gandhi said, “The Election Commission is not doing its job. They issued a statement today, but it’s complete nonsense. They’re not functioning as the constitutional body they are meant to be.”
In response to the mounting criticism, the Election Commission defended the SIR process. In an affidavit to the Supreme Court, the ECI asserted its constitutional duty to ensure clean voter rolls by removing the names of deceased, migrated, or ineligible voters. “Should we allow fake votes to be cast in the name of dead or migrated voters? Isn’t an authentic voter list the foundation for free and fair elections?” the commission asked in its statement.
The poll panel also urged political parties and citizens to rise above partisan politics and reflect seriously on the importance of maintaining electoral integrity.
Despite the ECI’s justification, opposition leaders have maintained their demand for a parliamentary discussion on the SIR exercise, alleging a deliberate effort to manipulate electoral rolls ahead of the upcoming assembly elections. Protests in both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha have continued for four consecutive days.
