Nothing can save CEC; SIR must be suspended forthwith: Congress

The Congress on Sunday demanded the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and the immediate suspension of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, saying the Election Commission’s decision to provide “readable” voter rolls to political parties was the result of nationwide protests against alleged “vote chori”.

Congress general secretary in-charge of communications Jairam Ramesh said the party and Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi had consistently demanded that the Election Commission of India (ECI) provide electoral rolls in a searchable format to all political parties over the past two years.

“The demand was repeatedly refused by the ECI, which stopped providing searchable voter rolls in 2018 when the Congress found lakhs of bogus voters in Madhya Pradesh. The demand was denied for eight years to enable Vote Chori,” Ramesh said in a post on X.

He said the ECI issued an order on October 15, 2026, to provide electoral rolls in a searchable format to political parties for the Special Summary Revision (SSR), which resumed after a gap of two years in 17 States and Union territories.

“This is because the whole nation is on the streets against the Vote Chors,” Ramesh claimed.

“Every time ‘vote chori’ is caught, the Modi government adopts a new tactic: stopping readable voter rolls, fake voter additions, SIR. But not this time,” he said.

Mr. Ramesh alleged that Mr. Kumar, acting on the instructions of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, had destroyed public trust in the ECI.

“Nothing can save the CEC. He simply has to go. But that alone will not be enough. The ECI itself, along with its IT system, has to be thoroughly revamped,” he said.

Mr. Ramesh also demanded the immediate suspension of the SIR, claiming that it had put the constitutional right to vote of more than 13 crore Indians at risk.

The ECI has ordered the annual SSR of electoral rolls in 17 States and Union territories, including those scheduled to hold Assembly elections early next year. The final electoral rolls in these States and Union territories will be published on January 4.

A senior ECI functionary said the SSR was an annual exercise mandated under election law and was conducted specially in poll-bound States.

The SIR of electoral rolls has been completed in these 17 States and Union territories. In Assam, a special revision was conducted instead of the SIR for legal reasons.

For the first time, political parties will be provided with “readable” electoral rolls in both hard and soft copies at the draft and final stages. Candidates in poll-bound States will also receive the draft and final rolls. The rolls will also be available for purchase from Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) before the elections.