NEW DELHI, OCT 2 (PTI): Stepping up its attack on the Centre and the Election Commission (EC), the Congress on Friday said the “Mass Disenfranchisement Of Indians (MODI) through the Shah Instigated Removal (SIR)” is shrinking the country’s electorate.
Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh cited an analysis published in a business daily and said the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral roll has reduced the size of the Indian electorate to its 2015 level. “The electorate across 31 states and UTs grew from 81.7 crore in 2015 to about 95 crore before the SIR process began. But the SIR has brought it down to 81.8 crore. This reversal is unprecedented,” Ramesh said in a post on X.
This was done through a mass deletion of more than 13 crore voters during the SIR’s draft-roll stage, the Congress leader said. The actual number of deletions is even higher and the electorate will shrink further as the SIR is still ongoing in 14 states and Union territories, he claimed. “In Maharashtra, the data reveals the Vote Chori pattern: first, the electorate grew by 5.6 per cent between the 2024 Lok Sabha election and the SIR. Now, the SIR has shrunken it by 21 per cent. The disastrous Delhi SIR has shrunk the electorate by 16 per cent compared to its 2014 level,” Ramesh said. “The capture of our electoral system by the RSS-BJP through the Election Commission of India cannot be allowed to stand. We will ensure that every voter that has been illegitimately removed is restored to the electoral roll,” the Congress general secretary asserted. Earlier in the day, the Congress accused the EC of “lying” about the ECINet portal and violating the Representation of the People Act, as it demanded accountability for the “violations of the law and the Constitution”.
Ramesh said in its “damage control but actually damage enhancing” press note on September 26, the EC promised a committee to certify that the “legally-suspect” ECINet “complies with the provisions of the Acts and Rules”. “In reality, this should never have been in doubt at all in the first place if the intentions of CEC Gyanesh Kumar were honest — which they were not,” he said. ECINet was launched on January 22 with much fanfare to “enhance transparency, credibility and public trust”, he added. The EC press note of that day assured the country that it “has been developed in strict accordance with the law” and in full compliance with the Constitution, the Representation of the People Acts, 1950 and 1951, and the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, the Congress leader pointed out.
“All of this was a lie,” he claimed.
“By restricting access of Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) to the ECINet voter roll system and by overruling EROs in states like Goa, West Bengal and others, the ECI controlled by the CEC has violated the Representation of the People Act, 1950 and the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960,” Ramesh alleged.
Both these laws establish that the ERO has statutory authority over the electoral roll, he said.
After recent revelations, the Maharashtra chief electoral officer (CEO) wrote to the EC on September 24, asking for a correction of this illegal state of affairs, Ramesh said.
“Starting today, the INDIA janbandhan, citizens and many civil society organisations will hit the streets across the country demanding accountability for these violations of the law and the Constitution,” he added.
The Congress on Thursday said the chorus of voices against the capture of the electoral system is getting louder and asserted that citizens will no longer tolerate “vote chori” (vote theft) in any form.
The INDIA opposition bloc on Wednesday announced joint “save democracy” marches in all districts of the country and five major rallies, demanded that future polls be held with ballot papers and appealed to the Supreme Court to expedite cases of the SIR and electoral “malpractices”.
At a meeting attended by the leaders of 19 political parties, it was decided that all opposition MPs will march to the EC office on October 6 and the leaders would meet the president to highlight the issues related to alleged irregularities in voter-list revision.
The opposition grouping discussed the demand for the CEC’s resignation and said they will not relent till he is ousted.
The meeting came days after The Indian Express reported that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi objected on record at least 14 times over the last 10 months to decisions and orders on the SIR that they said were issued without their knowledge or recommendation.
Under fire over the red flags raised by two of its commissioners over the SIR process, the EC has asserted that differing views and observations are a normal part of deliberations in any institution and that all its orders carry full legal sanction and follow established statutory procedures.
Congress’s dig at PM on rising prices
The Congress on Friday attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi over rising prices of essential food items, saying the “insensitivity of the pravachan mantri” knows no bounds.
Congress general secretary (communications) Jairam Ramesh shared a media report on X which claimed that skyrocketing prices are taking a heavy toll on household kitchens with a sharp increase of 20 to 25 per cent in kitchen budgets recorded over the last three months.
In his post in Hindi, Ramesh said, “Inflation isn’t just rising in statistics; its pain is being felt in the kitchens of every middle-class and poor household.”
In the festival season, the kitchen budget has increased by up to 25 per cent in just three months, he said, citing the media report.
“In this news report, a homemaker shared that their income is only Rs 35,000, and managing kitchen expenses on such limited income has become extremely difficult,” Ramesh said.
“Does Modi ji realize how all these families must be managing their household budgets in this era of inflation?” he said.
“Arhar dal has gone from Rs 105 to Rs 140-150 per kg, moong from Rs 95 to Rs 120, rice from Rs 42-45 to Rs 53-55, and mustard oil has reached Rs 190 per liter from Rs 165,” he said.
“The government’s own figures show that food inflation was 5.95% in August. Onions rose by 48.27%, ginger by 73.82%, and garlic by 43.60%,” Ramesh said.
“Lentils, spices, vegetables, oil… inflation is hitting everywhere. Government data shows that household savings are declining and debt on families is increasing,” he said.
For the average family, the question isn’t just about rising expenses, but also about running the household with shrinking savings and limited income, Ramesh said.
For the government, these may be just numbers, but for the public, it’s a household budget unraveling every month, he said.
“When will the people of the country get relief from this back-breaking inflation? The insensitivity of the ‘pravachan mantri’ (sermonizing minister) knows no bounds,” Ramesh said, taking a swipe at the prime minister.
The Congress has been flagging the issue of rising prices and accusing the government of following “anti-people” policies.
The government, however, has dismissed the claims and pointed to the GDP numbers.