Congress to hold massive rally against SIR in national capital
NEW DELHI: The Congress will hold a massive rally against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Ramlila Maidan in Delhi in the first week of December.
This follows the completion of the nationwide signature campaign against the ‘vote-chori’ (vote theft) under which the party collected five crore signatures from across the country.
A meeting of the PCC presidents, CLP leaders, general secretaries, in-charges, secretaries and senior leaders from 12 states, where SIR process is underway, was held here today which was presided over by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge.
It was attended among others by the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and general secretary (organisation) KC Venugopal.
Congress president Kharge reiterated and reaffirmed the Congress party’s resolve to protect and safeguard the integrity of the electoral rolls.
“The Congress Party is unequivocally committed to safeguarding the integrity of the electoral rolls”, he said, adding, “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”.
Asking the ECI of India to show its neutrality and impartiality, the Congress president emphasised, “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”.
He said, the Congress firmly believes 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 remarked.
Kharge said that the party workers, BLOs, and District/City/Block Presidents will remain relentlessly vigilant.
“We will expose every attempt, however subtle, to delete genuine voters or insert bogus ones”, he warned, adding, “the Congress Party will not allow democratic safeguards to be eroded by partisan misuse of institutions”.
