By Sanjeeb Kumar Sahoo
Before I say what happened at the Congress Working Committee (CWC) today, September 29, I would first like to repeat what I said after September 23 through *National Political Mirror*: that the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) should be suspended while it is being conducted under the supervision of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar and Election Commissioners (ECs) Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi. I also believe that the concluded SIR exercises conducted before the Assembly polls in Assam, Bihar, and West Bengal should be scrapped and discarded.
And there is still an elephant in the room. Therefore, I reiterate my demand after reading today’s front-page story in *The Indian Express*, whose headline reads: “Maharashtra poll chief wants ECINet discretion for staff — a demand ECs had flagged.”
The September 29 report says that Maharashtra Chief Electoral Officer S. Chockalingam wrote to the Election Commission seeking changes to the ECINet software, including greater discretion for Electoral Registration Officers (EROs). The report also notes that similar concerns had previously been raised by Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi.
I first made the same demand after The Indian Express published its September 23 report, headlined: “14 times in 10 months, two Election Commissioners objected on record to poll panel steps.”
If such concerns have been raised from within the Election Commission system itself, then the issue deserves a clear explanation from the Commission—particularly at a time when the SIR exercise is affecting electoral rolls and, ultimately, the rights of citizens to participate in elections. This is not about supporting or opposing any political party. It is about accountability, transparency, and public confidence in the electoral process.
Let’s come to the point: as I am going to tell you what happened at the Congress Working Committee (CWC), the top executive and decision-making body of the Indian National Congress, which shapes party policies, interprets the party constitution, and guides the party’s overall political strategy.
At the CWC meeting, the Congress party demanded the resignation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah, saying that they have no moral right to continue in office following what the party describes as revelations about “vote chori” allegedly being carried out at their behest by Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
The grand old party also reiterated its demand for Kumar’s removal, the suspension of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process, and the restoration of the 13.30 crore names that, according to the party, have been deleted from the electoral rolls so far.
The CWC resolution expressed that recent reports concerning the functioning of the Election Commission of India (ECI) had vindicated Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s sustained warnings about “Vote Chori” and raised serious questions about the independence and credibility of the poll panel.
The CWC noted that concerns over the electoral process had been heightened by reports that the ECI had been reduced to a “one-man show”, with the CEC taking decisions without adequate consultation with the other Election Commissioners. It cited reports that two Election Commissioners had raised 14 objections over a period of 10 months regarding “unauthorised” and “illegal” changes to Form 6 used in the SIR exercise.
The CWC said that the concentration of control over electoral rolls during the nationwide SIR had raised serious questions about the transparency and institutional functioning of the ECI.
The CWC also questioned the constitutional validity of the SIR, saying that the exercise had already resulted in the removal of 13 crore 30 lakh names from the electoral rolls. It argued that a process that places the burden on citizens to establish their eligibility to vote, while being conducted “in haste” and without adequate safeguards, could result in mass disenfranchisement and violate the guarantee of equality under Article 14 and universal adult suffrage under Article 326 of the Constitution.
“An exercise of doubtful constitutional validity cannot be allowed to decide who may vote in the world’s largest democracy,” the resolution said.
The CWC said the Congress, under the guidance of party president Mallikarjun Kharge and the leadership of Rahul Gandhi, had taken the issue to various platforms, including through the Voter Adhikar Yatra in Bihar, the nationwide Vote Chori campaign, representations to the ECI, the EAGLE group’s engagement with the poll panel, legal challenges to the SIR, INDIA bloc protests in Parliament, and a march to the ECI.
It said that concerns initially raised by Rahul Gandhi had now become a wider demand for “accountability, transparency, and restoration of the sanctity of India’s electoral system”. The CWC said the Congress would continue to oppose “theft of the people’s franchise” in Parliament, the courts, and on the streets until citizens’ voting rights were protected and the ECI was restored as an independent constitutional authority.
