Congress flags SIR concerns in Chhattisgarh

The Congress’s Chhattisgarh unit has expressed several concerns over the Special Intensive Revision process under way in the State, and sought an extension of the one-month deadline for document submission and verification.

Under the second phase of the SIR, enumeration forms are being distributed in 12 States and Union Territories, including Chhattisgarh. In the first phase earlier this year, the exercise was conducted in Bihar, and faced sharp criticism.

Addressing a press conference in Raipur on Monday (November 10, 2025), senior Congress leaders emphasised the demand for transparency, echoing concerns of non-National Democratic Alliance parties in Bihar, and also listed paddy harvesting as a key local factor that makes the one-month window “insufficient”. They also questioned how the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party was speaking on behalf of the Election Commission and answering questions addressed to the poll body.

“The SIR work should be done with the right intentions; its goal should be to add as many voters as possible, not to delete them. The SIR should purely be the EC’s work, not reflect the agenda of the government or a particular party. There should be no attempt to delete votes by applying filters in a set pattern for the political benefit of the ruling party. Since SIR is the EC’s work, if any questions or problems arise in the process, it is the Commission’s job to resolve and respond. In what capacity is the BJP responding?” said former Minister and convener of the Congress SIR Monitoring Committee for Chhattisgarh Mohan Markam.

Former State Congress president and SIR committee co-convenor Dhanendra Sahu said that currently, the State is in the midst of the paddy harvesting season, following which farmers will have to take their paddy to farmers’ societies to sell the produce, making an extension necessary.

“In a State like Chhattisgarh, where there is ample time for elections, three months is the preferred time frame. Therefore, this deadline should be extended to the three months so that no one is left out,” said Mr. Sahu.

Opposing voices have emerged from other parts of the State too. Bastariya Raj Morcha convenor and former MLA Manish Kunjam, based in Bastar, has called the move disastrous and warned that it can potentially disenfranchise thousands.

He said when governance and administration have not yet reached the remote areas of Gollapally, Kistaram, and Maad in Konta (interior Bastar), a survey “was out of the question”. He said that even today, most villagers had only forest rights pattas — titles issued under the Forests Rights Act — as their only document and others were deprived of even that.

A statement issued by People’s Union of Civil Liberties noted that in Chhattisgarh’s particularly tribal-dominated areas, forest-dwelling, uneducated, and displaced settlements — those who lack the necessary documents or whose addresses have changed — were at risk of being largely deprived in this process.