'Venomous rhetoric': Nearly 300 ex-ambassadors, generals, others defend EC in open letter against Rahul Gandhi's 'vote chori' claims

Nearly 272 eminent citizens, including 16 judges, 123 retired bureaucrats, and 133 retired armed forces officers, have issued an open letter condemning the Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi and the Congress Party for allegedly attempting to tarnish constitutional bodies such as the Election Commission.

"We, the senior citizens of civil society, express our grave concern that India’s democracy is under assault, not by force, but by a rising tide of venomous rhetoric directed toward its foundational institutions. Some political leaders, instead of offering genuine policy alternative, resort to provocative but unsubstantiated accusations in their theatrical political strategy. After their attempts to tarnish the Indian Armed Forces by questioning their valour and accomplishments, and the Judiciary by questioning its fairness, Parliament, and its constitutional functionaries, now it is the turn of Election Commission of India to face systematic and conspiratorial attacks on its integrity and reputation," the open letter read.

Read list of citizens who signed the letter:

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday raised questions over the SIR process at a meeting with key AICC office-bearers of 12 states and Union Territories where the revision of electoral rolls is underway, and said the party must fight this politically, organisationally and legally, sources said.

During the meeting, Gandhi also said it is the Election Commission's duty to provide clean electoral rolls but instead, it was trying to put the onus on political parties, according to the sources.

Gandhi claimed that the procedure is being adopted hurriedly and claimed that it is intended to delete genuine voters, the sources said.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, former party chief Gandhi and AICC general secretary, organisation, K C Venugopal participated in the review meeting with state unit chiefs, Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leaders and secretaries of 12 states and UTs where the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) is underway.

Upping the ante over its 'vote chori' pitch, the Congress said the Election Commission's conduct during the SIR process has been "deeply disappointing" and demanded that the poll body must immediately demonstrate that it is not operating under the BJP's shadow.

Kharge, who chaired the meeting with key office-bearers of the 12 states and UTs where the SIR is underway, alleged that the BJP is attempting to weaponise the process for "vote chori".

"We held a comprehensive strategy review with AICC general secretaries, AICC in-charges, PCCs, CLPs and AICC secretaries from the states/UTs where the SIR process is underway. The Congress Party is unequivocally committed to safeguarding the integrity of the electoral rolls," Kharge said on X after he chaired the meeting.

Subsequent to facing a severe drubbing in Bihar, where the NDA cruised to victory with 202 of the 243 seats against the Mahagathbandhan's 35, the Congress has questioned the role of the Election Commission (EC) in the poll process.

In its daily SIR bulletin, the poll authority said over 50.25 crore enumeration forms have been distributed in the 12 states and UTs. In other words, 98.54 per cent of the 50.97 crore electors have received the partly filled forms.

The 12 states and UTs are Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Puducherry, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and Lakshadweep.

Among these, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Kerala and West Bengal will go to the polls in 2026.

In Assam, where elections are also due in 2026, the EC announced a 'special revision' of electoral rolls on Monday.

Phase two of the SIR exercise began on November 4 with the enumeration stage and will continue till December 4.

Last week, Rahul Gandhi called the Bihar poll results "surprising", and claimed that the election was not fair from the very beginning.

Gandhi also said the Congress and the INDIA bloc would conduct an in-depth review of the outcomes.

The Congress claimed that the results, without a doubt, reflect "vote chori on a gigantic scale -- masterminded by the prime minister, the home minister, the EC".

Gandhi's poll campaign against the BJP in Bihar revolved around his "vote chori" (vote theft) allegations.