Congress meet for higher BLA vigilance in SIR drive

A meeting of Congress leaders here on Tuesday stressed the need for vigilant participation of the party's booth level agents-2 (BLA-2s) during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in 11 states, a UT and Special Revision in Assam. The Opposition party also accused the EC of being biased in the exercise and alleged the BJP was weaponising SIR.

Presided over by Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi, the meeting reviewed the works in these states based on the inputs from the invitees, the AICC in-charges, PCC and CLP leaders and CWC members of these states' SIR. A notable absentee was CWC member from Kerala, Shashi Tharoor. The meeting reiterated the decision to hold a rally in Delhi against the way SIR is being done.

Gandhi is learnt to have told the meeting that the EC, instead of ensuring clean electoral rolls in Bihar, was putting the onus of ensuring it on the BLAs of political parties. Kharge, while blaming the EC and BJP on the SIR issue, is also learnt to have told the meeting that the election campaign in Bihar saw hard work by Gandhi. Some participants said post meeting that Gandhi had said Congress will fight against the SIR issues politically, organisationally and legally. Kharge later said, "It (EC) must immediately demonstrate that it is not operating under BJP's shadow... We firmly believe that BJP is attempting to weaponise SIR for 'vote chori'. And, if EC chooses to look the other way, that failure is not just administrative, it becomes a complicity of silence. Our workers, BLOs, and district/city/block presidents will therefore remain relentlessly vigilant. We will expose every attempt, however subtle, to delete genuine voters or insert bogus ones".