BJP Accuses Congress of Undermining Constitutional Bodies Over Voter Roll SIR

The BJP on Tuesday sharpened its attack on the Congress, accusing the Opposition party of working to dismantle India's constitutional mechanisms, as the standoff over the ongoing revision of electoral rolls intensified.

Addressing reporters, BJP national general secretary Smriti Irani said the Congress leadership was "leaving no stone unturned to rip apart India's Constitutional mechanisms." She pointed to a remark by the Congress president in 2019 about tarnishing Prime Minister Narendra Modi's image, saying the Prime Minister had maintained that he could be targeted politically but that such attacks should not extend to India's democracy and constitutional authorities.

Irani defended the Election Commission, describing it as an institution that strengthens the country's democratic systems and has earned respect internationally. She argued that the Congress, unable to accept that voters do not back it within the democratic framework, was attacking the poll body instead of analysing its own defeats.

Referring to the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, Irani said the Election Commission has already stated that Booth Level Officers would visit the homes of those issued notices to collect and verify their documents. She questioned why the Congress wanted the names of deceased persons restored to the rolls and why it sought the continuation of duplicate entries.

She also criticised the Congress for invoking its Lahore Session while targeting the Election Commission, calling it shameful, and asked whether the party was effectively giving the poll body a clean chit in Opposition-ruled states such as Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Kerala and Karnataka.

The remarks come amid a broader political confrontation over the conduct of the electoral roll revision, with the BJP positioning itself as a defender of the Election Commission and the Congress pressing its concerns about the process.