Congress announces massive rally in December to expose ECI’s ‘sinister designs’

The Congress party Tuesday decided to hold a massive protest rally in the first week of December at Delhi’s Ramleela Maidan, vowing to expose the Election Commission of India’s (ECI) alleged “sinister designs” to destroy democracy and Opposition parties.

Emerging from a crucial review meeting, the party escalated its offensive against the poll body, accusing it of colluding with the ruling party to institutionalize “vote theft”, which the Congress has consistently alleged since its crushing defeat in the recent Bihar Assembly elections.

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Congress General Secretary, Organisation, K C Venugopal, announced the mobilization, stating the protest will feature “lakhs of people attending it” to expose the ECI. “The Election Commission’s motive is to destroy democracy and Opposition parties, which has never happened in history. We are going to the streets,” he told reporters.

The Congress’s primary focus is on the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls across 12 states and Union Territories, which the party asserts is being “weaponized for ‘vote chori'” to delete targeted Opposition-leaning votes.

Party President Mallikarjun Kharge issued a sharp statement, laying the blame for potential manipulation squarely at the ECI’s door. “We firmly believe that the BJP is attempting to weaponize the SIR process for ‘Vote Chori’,” Kharge declared, adding that the ECI’s conduct has been “deeply disappointing” and demanded that the body “must immediately demonstrate that it is not operating under the BJP’s shadow.”

The review meeting, attended by AICC in-charges and state unit chiefs, focused on assessing the fairness of the revision in Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal, along with the UTs of Puducherry, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and Lakshadweep. The party is concerned about widespread disenfranchisement and is instructing its workers to intensify active engagement at the booth level to monitor the revision process.

The ECI, on its part, has defended the SIR process, citing a high compliance rate and reporting that over 95% of the 5.99 crore targeted electors have received enumeration forms as part of the drive.