Congress To Hold Meeting Of Top Office-Bearers Of States, UTs Undergoing SIR

Amid the Bihar poll debacle and its "vote chori" pitch, the Congress has called a review meeting on November 18 of in-charges, state unit chiefs, Congress Legislature Party leaders and secretaries of 12 states and Union territories where Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls is underway.

A day after facing a severe drubbing in Bihar, where the NDA cruised to victory with 202 seats against the Mahagathbandhan's 35, the Congress on Saturday questioned the role of the Election Commission (EC) in the poll process, after its top leaders, including Rahul Gandhi and party chief Mallikarjun Kharge, met to discuss the dismal outcome.

A senior party functionary said the review meeting of AICC in-charges, Pradesh Congress Committee chiefs, Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leaders, and secretaries of 12 states and Union territories where the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise is underway will take place at the Indira Bhawan on November 18.

On Saturday, the EC said that more than 95 per cent of the 5.99 crore electors across nine states and three UTs have received enumeration forms under the ongoing SIR exercise.

In its daily SIR bulletin, the poll authority said over 48.67 crore enumeration forms have been distributed in the 12 states and UTs -- Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Puducherry, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and Lakshadweep.

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

In Assam, where elections are also due in 2026, the revision of electoral rolls will be announced separately.

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

On Friday, 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 also 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. 

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