New Delhi: The Congress has called for a high-level review meeting on Tuesday. The gathering will involve All India Congress Committee (AICC) in-charges, state unit presidents, Congress Legislative Party (CLP) leaders and secretaries from 12 states and Union territories where voter list verification is currently underway.
The move comes days after the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) registered a massive victory, winning 202 seats compared to the Mahagathbandhan’s 35. Soon after the results, Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi huddled with senior leaders to assess the setback, once again raising questions about the Election Commission’s role during the electoral process.
According to party insiders, the meeting, scheduled at Indira Bhawan, will review organisational readiness in states where the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls is in progress.
Meanwhile, the Election Commission said that more than 50 crore out of nearly 51 crore electors have already received their SIR enumeration forms. Monday’s bulletin stated that 98.32 per cent of the 50.99 crore registered voters across the participating states and UTs have been covered.
The SIR exercise is currently active in West Bengal, Puducherry, Gujarat, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Rajasthan, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and Lakshadweep.
West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Puducherry, all scheduled to vote in 2026, are among the regions where the enrolment verification drive is underway.
Assam, another state going to polls in 2026, will undergo a separate special revision, the EC announced.
Phase II of the SIR process, which covers enumeration and verification, began on November 4. It will continue till December 4.
Reacting to the Bihar verdict last week, Rahul Gandhi called the results “surprising” and alleged the election ‘was not fair from the start’. He added that the Congress as well as the INDIA bloc would conduct a detailed review of how the campaign unfolded.
The Congress has also claimed the Bihar outcome reflects “vote chori on a gigantic scale, masterminded by the prime minister, the home minister and the Election Commission”. Gandhi’s messaging throughout the campaign hinged on this allegation of “vote theft”.
