Congress To Hold Review Meeting Of Top Office Bearers In 12 States, UTs Undergoing SIR

After a severe drubbing in the Bihar elections, the Congress has called a review meeting on November 18 of all in-charges, state unit chiefs, Congress Legislature Party leaders and secretaries of 12 states and Union Territories where the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls is underway.

The NDA cruised to victory in the Bihar Assembly elections with 202 seats, decimating the Mahagathbandhan, which could only muster 35 seats. The RJD displayed one of its worst performances with 25 seats, while the Congress fared worse, winning only six out of the 61 seats it had contested, showing that Rahul Gandhi’s ‘vote theft’ charge had failed.

Even after the loss, the Congress on Saturday questioned the role of the Election Commission of India

(ECI) in the poll process, after its top leaders, including Rahul Gandhi and party chief Mallikarjun Kharge, met to discuss the dismal outcome.

“This result in Bihar is truly surprising. We could not achieve victory in an election that was not fair from the very beginning. This fight is for the protection of the Constitution and democracy. The Congress Party and the INDIA alliance will deeply review this result and make their efforts to save democracy even more effective,” said Rahul Gandhi after the Bihar election results.

A senior Congress functionary said the review meeting of AICC in-charges, Pradesh Congress Committee chiefs, Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leaders, and secretaries of 12 states and Union territories where the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise is going on will take place at the Indira Bhawan on November 18, reported news agency PTI.

Meanwhile, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge echoed Gandhi’s concerns after the Bihar poll rout, alleging the misuse of “constitutional institutions”. He said the party respected the people’s mandate but would continue “the fight against those forces that are engaged in weakening democracy”.

SIR Exercise In Other States

The Election Commission, which announced a pan-India SIR exercise based on the Bihar model, said more than 95% of the 5.99 crore electors across nine states and three UTs have received enumeration forms under the ongoing SIR exercise.

In its daily SIR bulletin, the poll authority said over 48.67 crore enumeration forms have been distributed in the 12 states and UTs — Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Puducherry, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and Lakshadweep.

The SIR exercise became one of the most critical elements of the Bihar elections, with the Opposition accusing the poll body of disenfranchising voters by excluding them from the voter list. The poll body argued that the exercise was aimed at purifying electoral rolls by removing voters who had either migrated or had died.

(with inputs from PTI)