New Delhi, Nov 18 (IANS) Congress National President Mallikarjun Kharge on Tuesday held an extensive strategy review with senior party leaders to discuss the ongoing Special Intensive Review being carried out by the Election Commission of India (ECI) across several states.

The meeting was attended by party General Secretaries, In-Charges, PCC and CLP leaders, along with Secretaries from the states and union territories where the SIR process is currently underway.

In a post on X, Kharge said, “The Congress Party is unequivocally committed to safeguarding the integrity of the electoral rolls. At a time when public confidence in democratic institutions is already strained, the Election Commission’s conduct during the SIR process has been deeply disappointing.”

He said the Election Commission must reaffirm that it is not functioning as a “shadow” of the ruling BJP, which the Congress has accused of “weaponising” the SIR process for political gain.

“It must immediately demonstrate that it is not operating under the BJP’s shadow and it remembers its Constitutional oath and allegiance to the people of India, not to any ruling party,” Kharge said.

“We firmly believe that the BJP is attempting to weaponise the SIR process for Vote Chori. And if the EC chooses to look the other way, that failure is not just administrative – it becomes a complicity of silence,” he added.

He said Congress workers, booth-level officers, and District, City, and Block Presidents would “remain relentlessly vigilant” during the ongoing electoral roll review.

“We will expose every attempt, however subtle, to delete genuine voters or insert bogus ones. The Congress Party will not allow democratic safeguards to be eroded by partisan misuse of institutions,” he said.

The meeting comes at a time when the Congress is facing internal and external pressure following its steep defeat in the Bihar Assembly elections, where the party secured only six seats.

–IANS

sd/dpb