Representative Image.
| Photo Credit: L. Balachandar
The ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in 12 states constitutes a “calculated political project” by the BJP-RSS alliance, implemented through a “pliant” Election Commission of India, the CPI (M) Polit Bureau said in a statement on Sunday.
The Polit Bureau issued the statement after a two-day meeting on November 13-14 in Delhi. The SIR, the party said, is intended to systematically disenfranchise millions of voters, employing onerous documentation requirements and an archaic 2002 baseline to effectively function as a backdoor National Register of Citizens (NRC). “Its primary objective is to alter the electoral demography to favour the ruling party and undermine the very foundations of universal adult suffrage, representing the most significant assault on electoral democracy,” the party noted.
The CPI(M) Polit Bureau also said that the party will examine in detail the “partisan attitude of the ECI, abrupt initiation of SIR and other factors” that contributed to the NDA’s victory in the Bihar Assembly elections.
The Polit Bureau pointed out that despite a 9.6% increase in voter participation, the NDA did not gain much in terms of votes when compared to their performance in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. “The ruling coalition utilised the entire state machinery, resorted to various manipulations, deployed huge amounts of money and large numbers of cadres brought in from outside the state. It benefited from the polarising communal and casteist rhetoric of its leaders, including the Prime Minister and the Home Minister. This rhetoric, amplified by a compliant corporate media, drowned out the people’s issues raised by the Mahagathbandhan,” the party said.
It also noted that the Opposition parties must make a more concerted effort to lead joint struggles against its anti-people policies.
Published – November 16, 2025 09:32 pm IST
