RAIPUR: Amid an escalating firestorm over the Election Commission’s operational integrity, senior Congress leader and former cabinet minister Mohammad Akbar levelled allegations against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process in Chhattisgarh, alleging that nearly 25 lakh voters have been scrubbed from the final electoral rolls—a figure nearly four times larger than the decisive victory margin of the 2023 state Assembly elections.
The opposition Congress and the ruling BJP locked horns over the deletion of these large numbers from the state’s electoral rolls.
Citing comparative electoral data, Akbar underscored that the vote difference separating the BJP and the Congress in the 2023 state polls stood at 6,32,382 votes (4.04%). Following the SIR rollout, the final voter registry shrank by an astonishing 24,99,823 names.
Of the deleted aggregate, Akbar revealed that 19,13,540 electors were unilaterally categorised under the "Shifted" or "Absent" brackets. He argued that these designations routinely sweep up citizens who are temporarily away from their registered addresses for employment, seasonal labour, higher education, or urgent personal reasons.
"Assuming permanent absence or deeming a citizen ineligible simply because they were not home on a particular day—or did not receive an enumeration form—is a catastrophic blow to constitutional safeguards," Akbar asserted.
He pointed out that because the Election Commission itself classified these individuals as absent, it confirms they were systematically denied individualised notices, document submission rights, or a fair hearing before their names were expunged.
Akbar demanded that the Election Commission conduct case-by-case individual reviews for all 19,13,540 electors marked "Shifted" or "Absent", issue statutory notices, grant adequate hearings to every affected citizen and restore the names of all wrongfully purged electors.
The ruling BJP launched a counterattack, dismissing the allegations as a baseless deflection orchestrated by a party unable to accept its democratic defeat.
BJP State Spokesperson Vijay Shanker Mishra issued a stern warning to Akbar and the Congress leadership: "To mask their humiliating defeat, Congress must stop assailing the credibility of fair, independent, and constitutional institutions like the Election Commission of India."
The confrontation sets the stage for an escalating legal and political standoff, as opposition increasingly questions voter list integrity.
