Daijiworld Media Network - New Delhi
New Delhi, Nov 24: Congress leader and Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi launched a sharp critique of the Election Commission of India (ECI) on Sunday, calling the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls “no reform but an imposed oppression.” He directly linked the exercise to the deaths of 16 Booth Level Officers (BLOs) in just under three weeks, citing heart attacks, stress, and suicides.
Posting on X, Rahul Gandhi wrote:
“Under the guise of SIR, chaos has been unleashed across the country — the result? In three weeks, 16 BLOs have lost their lives. Heart attacks, stress, suicides — SIR is no reform, it's an imposed tyranny.” He attached a newspaper clipping highlighting the fatalities.
He accused the ECI of overburdening voters with “thousands of scanned pages of a 22-year-old voter list” to locate their names, claiming this approach is designed to exhaust genuine voters and allow voter fraud to persist.
The SIR aims to clean electoral rolls by removing duplicates, deceased voters, and those who have shifted residence ahead of the 2026 Assembly polls in states such as West Bengal, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Puducherry. The process is currently underway in nine states and three Union Territories, including Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, and Lakshadweep. Phase-I has already concluded in Bihar, with the final voter list scheduled for February 7, 2026.
Critics, including Rahul Gandhi, argue that the 30-day deadline is unrealistic and places immense pressure on underpaid and often untrained BLOs — many of whom are teachers, anganwadi workers, and volunteers — who are required to manually digitise millions of entries.
Highlighting India’s global reputation in software and technology, the Congress leader called the ECI’s reliance on paperwork a “jungle of paperwork,” urging the adoption of “digital, searchable, machine-readable” lists to ensure transparency.
“If intentions were clear, the ECI would prioritise accountability over this hasty rush,” he added, calling the BLO deaths “collateral damage” in what he described as a “conspiracy to sacrifice democracy for power.”
Concluding his statement, Rahul Gandhi emphasized: “This isn't failure—it's a plot,” underlining Congress’s commitment to fighting for electoral integrity.