New Delhi, September 30, 2026: Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has called for the pre-SIR electoral roll to be used in future elections, while demanding greater transparency in the revision of voter lists.
Speaking at the INDIA bloc meeting in New Delhi, Kharge said the opposition should demand complete disclosure of additions, deletions and corrections in electoral rolls, along with prior notice and an effective appeal mechanism before eligible voters are removed.
Kharge also called for a rollback of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise and raised concerns over the functioning of the Election Commission. He further advocated a return to ballot-paper voting instead of EVMs, saying, “The ballot belongs to the people. The mandate belongs to the people.”
The Election Commission has maintained that its SIR-related decisions have legal sanction and that the Commission’s decisions were taken through established procedures.
