ew Delhi, October 31: Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju has challenged the Congress to answer five questions concerning its electoral defeats, voter list revisions and the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise. His remarks came a day before the INDIA bloc’s ‘Chalo Delhi’ rally scheduled at Ramlila Maidan on November 1.
In a post on social media, Rijiju questioned the Congress’s allegations of electoral irregularities and asked the party to explain its electoral performance over the years.
His first question referred to the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, when the Congress won only 44 seats. He asked how the party suffered such a defeat when the Election Commissioners had been appointed during a Congress-led government.
In his second question, Rijiju pointed out that Gyanesh Kumar was not the Chief Election Commissioner during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and asked why the Congress suffered its third consecutive electoral defeat that year.
His third question targeted Congress-led state governments. He asked whether the party’s current Chief Ministers should resign and apologise for forming governments between 2014 and 2026, in view of the party’s allegations of electoral irregularities.
The fourth question concerned the removal of names from electoral rolls. Rijiju asked whether names of illegal immigrants, deceased persons, voters who had shifted residence and duplicate entries should be removed.
In his fifth question, the minister asked whether the Special Intensive Revision exercises conducted during 1952-56, 1958-61, 1965-66, 1983-84, 1987-88, 1993, 1995 and 2002-04 were also illegal.
INDIA bloc rally over SIR controversy
The INDIA bloc is scheduled to hold a rally at Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan on November 1 under the campaign ‘Vote Bachao, Desh Bachao’. The Opposition parties are demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in the SIR exercise.
The Opposition has alleged that eligible voters’ names have been deleted from electoral rolls and has questioned the transparency of the revision process. Congress and its allies have demanded a halt to the exercise, restoration of names allegedly removed without justification and a return to ballot paper-based voting.
The Election Commission, however, has maintained that its decisions were taken unanimously and rejected allegations of irregularities.
Rijiju’s remarks have added to the political confrontation between the ruling alliance and the Opposition ahead of the INDIA bloc’s rally.
