AAP Punjab State president Aman Arora and Cabinet Minister Harpal Cheema, talking to media persons, said that “Constitutional institutions in the country are rapidly losing their impartial character under BJP rule and are increasingly being misused to influence electoral outcomes in favour of the ruling party at the Centre.” File.
| Photo Credit: The Hindu
Even as the Election Commission of India (ECI) issued a notification for the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Punjab, among other states, the Indian National Congress’ Punjab unit raised concerns over the timing of the SIR exercise and the ruling Aam Aadmi Party alleged that constitutional institutions under the BJP rule were increasingly being misused.
Punjab’s Chief Electoral Officer, Anindita Mitra, said under the SIR, the both-level officers (BLOs) will undertake door-to-door visits across Punjab from June 25 to July 24, 2026 for filling voter verification forms.
“All voters in the state will be required to submit forms under the SIR exercise. Under the Pre-SIR mapping undertaken by our office, mapping of 1,79,56,656 voters has already been completed out of the total 2,14,57,160 voters in the state, accounting for 83.69% of the electorate,” she said, adding that 89.58% mapping has been completed in rural areas of Punjab, while 73 % mapping work has been completed in urban areas.
AAP Punjab State president Aman Arora and Cabinet Minister Harpal Cheema, talking to media persons, said that “Constitutional institutions in the country are rapidly losing their impartial character under BJP rule and are increasingly being misused to influence electoral outcomes in favour of the ruling party at the Centre.”
“The BJP is using the Election Commission as a political weapon in states where it cannot secure victory democratically on its own strength. He said the BJP first pushes for exercises like SIR under the pretext of voter list purification and later uses them to delete voters on a large scale for electoral benefit,” they alleged.
Questioning why the SIR exercise is being pushed ahead of the upcoming Punjab assembly elections, the Leader of the Opposition in the Punjab Assembly, the Congress’s Partap Singh Bajwa, said, “Why is the SIR exercise being pushed just ahead of the Punjab elections?”
He said Congress’ booth-level workers will remain vigilant. “Not a single genuine voter’s name will be allowed to be deleted, and no citizen’s democratic right to vote will be denied. Punjab will resist every attempt to manipulate the electoral process,” he added.
Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring appealed to other political parties in the State to beware and keep their political differences aside and ensure that Punjabi voters are not disenfranchised just ahead of elections because the BJP suspects them not to vote for it.
Meanwhile, Haryana Chief Electoral Officer A. Sreenivas said under the third phase of the SIR campaign, July 1, 2026, has been fixed as the qualifying date for Haryana.
“Preparatory work, training and printing activities under this campaign will be carried out from June 5 to June 14, 2026,” he said, adding that as of May 12, the total number of voters in Haryana stood at 2,06,63,155.
He said for the SIR, the booth-level officers (BLOs) have been appointed across the state, and they will conduct door-to-door verification and collect voters’ information from June 15 to July 14.
Published – May 15, 2026 04:25 am IST
