Piecemeal steps won’t work, Rahul Gandhi doubts stand vindicated: Congress

The Congress party has vehemently criticized the Election Commission, asserting that its proposed measures regarding SIR (Scrutiny of Identity and Address) are an admission of the electoral roll preparation exercise being a "disaster". The party maintains that piecemeal actions to remove or protect voters will not effectively address the widespread disenfranchisement.

The Election Commission, in response, acknowledged several concerns raised by its commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi, following an Indian Express report on the internal discord over the SIR decisions made over the past ten months. The Congress leadership, including Jairam Ramesh and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, has demanded the immediate resignation of the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC), alleging his political bias and questioning his ability to conduct fair elections.

States governed by the Congress have also targeted the CEC, with Keralam's Chief Minister, V D Satheesan, claiming that Rahul Gandhi's doubts concerning the Election Commission's fairness have been "proven true". Former Kerala Chief Secretary Jiji Thomson's allegations against the CEC have been described as "extremely serious", with accusations of subversion of democracy on behalf of the BJP.

The party's next steps in response to these revelations will be discussed at the Congress Working Committee meeting on Tuesday.