Rahul Gandhi Alleges SIR Exercise Meant to Cover Up and Institutionalise Vote Theft

Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, on Sunday alleged that the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls is an attempt to cover up "vote theft" and institutionalise it.

Speaking to reporters, Gandhi said he believes that like Haryana, "vote theft" occurred in Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh as well.

"Vote theft is an issue and SIR now, it is about covering it up and institutionalising the system," the Congress MP claimed.

Gandhi arrived in Pachmarhi hill town in Narmadapuram on Saturday to attend the Madhya Pradesh district Congress presidents' training camp.

The Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voters’ lists began in nine states and three Union Territories on November 4.

The exercise will cover nearly 51 crore electors across 321 districts and 1,843 assembly constituencies of these states and UTs.

"A few days ago, I gave a presentation on Haryana, and I clearly saw that vote theft was taking place...25 lakh votes were stolen, 1 in 8 votes were stolen," Gandhi alleged.

"After looking at that, after looking at the data, I believe that the same thing happened in MP, Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh. And this is the system of the BJP and EC (Election Commission)," he charged.

"We have more evidence, which we will provide gradually. But my issue is vote theft. The SIR now, it is about covering it up and institutionalising the system," he claimed.

Asked whether he will reveal more details later, Gandhi said they have a "lot of different information, very detailed information," which will be released in stages.

"Right now, only a little has been shown," the Congress leader said.

"But my issue is that democracy is being attacked, Ambedkar's Constitution is being attacked. (Prime Minister) Modi ji, (Union Home Minister) Amit Shah ji and (Chief Election Commissioner) Gyanesh ji are doing this directly by forming a joint partnership. And because of this, the country is suffering a lot. Bharat Mata is being harmed, Bharat Mata is being damaged," he alleged.

To another question, Gandhi said they had received positive feedback from the Madhya Pradesh district Congress presidents’ training programme.

For the SIR, the poll authority has deployed over 5.3 lakh booth-level officers (BLOs), 10,448 electoral registration officers and 321 district election officers. Additionally, 7.64 lakh booth-level agents (BLAs) from political parties are assisting BLOs in the field.

The Election Commission will release the draft electoral rolls on December 9, with the final rolls expected on February 7.

Election Commission officials recently remarked that Rahul Gandhi flags impurities in past polls but opposes the special intensive revision meant to clean up the electoral rolls.

Gandhi has claimed that the 2024 Haryana assembly polls were "stolen", alleging that 25 lakh entries were fake and the Election Commission colluded with the BJP to secure its victory.

The EC, however, has maintained that Gandhi’s allegations of vote manipulation are "unfounded", noting that no appeals were filed against the Haryana rolls nor was any instance of multiple voting reported at the time.