New Delhi, Reeling from a humiliating defeat in the Bihar Assembly elections and amplifying its allegations of “vote chori,” the Congress has convened a high-level review meeting on November 18 to assess the progress of the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls across 12 States and Union Territories.
The meeting, to be chaired at Indira Bhawan, will bring together AICC in-charges, Pradesh Congress Committee presidents, Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leaders, and secretaries from all regions currently undergoing the SIR exercise. This comes at a time when the party is under pressure from within and outside to explain its Bihar rout, where the NDA secured 202 seats, leaving the Mahagathbandhan with a paltry 35 seats
Top Congress leadership — including former party chief Rahul Gandhi and incumbent Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge — held internal deliberations over the weekend to analyse the “unexpected” scale of defeat in Bihar. Party sources said that concerns over the Election Commission’s handling of the poll process, including the accuracy of the updated rolls under SIR, dominated the discussions.
A senior party functionary told this paper that the November 18 review meeting is intended to “take stock of ground realities, organisational preparedness, and any emerging discrepancies in the enumeration process” in the 12 jurisdictions where the EC is conducting the intensive revision
The Election Commission, in its latest daily SIR bulletin released on Saturday, reported that over 95% of the 5.99 crore electors in nine states and three Union Territories have already received their enumeration forms. Overall, the EC has distributed more than 48.67 crore forms across the 12 regions covered in Phase-II of the exercise.
The states and UTs currently under the revision drive include Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Puducherry, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, and Lakshadweep.
Of these, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Kerala and West Bengal are scheduled for Assembly elections in 2026, making the accuracy of the revised electoral rolls particularly crucial. In Assam, which also heads to polls in 2026, the EC has said the SIR schedule will be announced separately.
Phase-II of the SIR began on November 4 and will continue through December. The exercise involves door-to-door verification by Booth Level Officers, printing and delivering elector-specific forms, and updating demographic and address-related details. The EC has maintained that the revision is essential to maintain “purity, completeness and inclusiveness” of electoral records.
However, Congress leaders argue that the Bihar experience highlights gaps in the system — gaps they believe must be addressed swiftly, especially in states heading to elections next year.
As the Congress prepares for Tuesday’s internal huddle, party strategists say the meeting will also evaluate organisational shortcomings exposed in Bihar and outline corrective measures ahead of a pivotal electoral calendar in 2026.
