Jairam Ramesh

Union Home Minister Amit Shah criticised Rahul Gandhi and the Congress over their protests concerning the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, accusing the opposition of negative politics and predicting another defeat for Congress in the 2029 Lok Sabha elections. Congress leaders rejected Shah's remarks and raised concerns about electoral transparency.

Congress’s campaign shifts its SIR criticism from political statements to booth-level mobilisation, with the party planning to identify affected voters and assist eligible people with re-enrolment. The use of “vote rakshaks” and household outreach indicates an effort to turn the electoral-roll dispute into a grassroots campaign. The controversy remains politically contested: Congress alleges large-scale voter deletions and demands accountability from the Election Commission, while the poll panel maintains that the SIR process follows the applicable legal and statutory framework. The scale and organisation of the campaign could keep electoral-roll transparency and voter registration at the centre of the Opposition’s political agenda.