Neither voters nor Oppn satisfied with SIR, EC's credibility under suspicion: Congress
New Delhi (PTI): Soon after the Election Commission on Monday announced holding Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in 12 states, the Congress questioned the exercise, and said the poll body's intentions and credibility were under suspicion as neither the voters nor the opposition were satisfied with it.
In a video message posted on X, Congress' media and publicity head Pawan Khera said, "We have not yet received answers to the questions related to the SIR conducted in Bihar. The situation was such that the Supreme Court had to step in several times to rectify the SIR in Bihar.
"The intentions of the Election Commission and the BJP, which has made the EC its puppet, regarding Bihar's SIR have already come to light before the entire country.
"Whenever SIR happens, Election Commission employees go to every house, add new voters, and delete those who need to be deleted."
But not even a singe voter has been added in Bihar, whereas 65 lakh votes have been deleted as part of the SIR exercise, which raises several questions, Khera said.
Now they (EC) are repeating the exercise in 12 states, Khera said.
The Congress leader also said that following the revelation of 'vote theft' in the Aland Assembly constituency in Karnataka by Rahul Gandhi, the SIT said that a centralised operation was being carried out to strike names from the voter list.
"We will come to know about the details of this after the SIT probe is complete in Karnataka," he said.
"Amid all this, conducting the SIR by such an Election Commission, whose credibility and intention are under suspicion, does not seem right. Clearly, neither the people, nor the opposition or the voters are satisfied," Khera alleged in the video message.
The Congress also alleged on its X handle that various cases and methods of "vote theft" are coming to light across the country, with votes being deliberately added in some places, while in others, they are being cut.
"The Election Commission should have responded to these cases. It should have investigated them, but instead, the Election Commission got involved in the game of 'vote theft' itself.
"The SIR to be conducted in 12 states is a conspiracy against democracy. It is a plot to snatch away the rights of the people," the Congress said.
In a post on X, Khera also asked whether Bihar has been turned into a "laboratory for murdering democracy through SIR".
"In the 12 states where SIR has been announced, will its guidelines be different from those of the 2003 SIR," he asked.
"Is this round of SIR also just for vote-cutting, because in Bihar, the Election Commission has not taken any steps towards adding new voters, while 6.5 million votes have been cut," Khera said in his post in Hindi.
The Election Commission will conduct Phase-2 of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in 12 states and Union territories, Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar announced at a presser on Monday.
The states and UTs are -- Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Puducherry, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.
Of these, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Kerala, and West Bengal will go to the polls in 2026.
Kumar clarified that for Assam, which will also got to polls next year, the revision of electoral rolls will be announced separately.
A separate provision of the Citizenship Act was applicable to Assam, he said.
The second phase of SIR will begin on November 4 with the enumeration process and continue till December 4. The EC will release the draft electoral rolls on December 9, and the final electoral rolls will be published on February 7.
The CEC said the ongoing SIR is the ninth such exercise since Independence, with the last one happening in 2002-04.
He highlighted that the first phase of the SIR was completed in Bihar with zero appeals.
"The second phase will be conducted in 12 states and Union territories. The SIR will ensure that no eligible elector is left out and no ineligible elector is included in poll rolls," Kumar said.
"Phase-2 of the SIR will cover 51 crore voters. While the enumeration process will begin on November 4, the draft rolls will be published on December 9, and the final electoral rolls on February 7," he said.
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Firms being arm-twisted to divert investment from Karnataka: Priyank Kharge
New Delhi (PTI): Companies are being arm-twisted to divert their investments from Karnataka despite the state having the best talent ecosystem, state's IT, biotech and rural development minister Priyank Kharge said on Friday.
The minister said it has taken 40 years to develop the entire ecosystem in the state that suits investors.
"Why is semiconductor going to Gujarat, Assam? That's my question? That's what I have been asking. Why is it going to Gujarat? Why is it going to Assam? When PLI comes, they have to choose their state. The name is Karnataka. How does it become Gujarat by the time the application reaches Delhi? They are coming to my state. Why are they being arm-twisted to Gujarat?" Kharge said.
He was speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a roadshow in the national capital for the Bengaluru Tech Summit 2026 to be held in November.
"They are coming to our state only. They want to invest in our state. It works out for them. It is profitable for them. Our human resource is one of the most agile and best in the world. But yet, they are going to be pushed to Gujarat," Kharge said.
During the event, Kharge said Karnataka is planning to rejig policy on data centres to promote sustainable data centres.
"There is a serious need for states and the central government to bring up policies for sustainable data centres. That's exactly what the government of Karnataka intends to do," Kharge said.
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