"Completely biased": Congress' Venugopal accuses Election Commission of bias over Bihar SIR

New Delhi [India], July 24 (ANI): Congress General Secretary KC Venugopal on Thursday accused the Election Commission of India (ECI) of being "biased" in its conduct of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar ahead of the upcoming assembly elections.
The Congress MP also criticised the Union government, claiming it has failed to take its own members into confidence over the SIR process, and warned that the exercise could prove to be a "disaster" for the country.
"The government cannot even convince their own members, even they are saying this exercise is going to be a big disaster for democracy. ECI is completely biased. This is what the country is witnessing now," Venugopal told ANI.
Congress MP Karti Chidambaram echoed the concern, alleging that the SIR is targeting minorities and disadvantaged communities in Bihar and removing their names from the voter list.
He also questioned the timing of the revision, arguing that it should have been conducted after the 2024 general elections to give affected voters enough time to appeal if their names were unfairly deleted.
"In Bihar, people of minority and disadvantaged communities are being targeted and it is being made sure they are removed from the electoral roll. That will call into question the entire integrity of the election results when the elections are held... If the Election Commission wanted to, they could have started this exercise immediately after the elections were held, and this would have given people adequate time to file their appeals in case of unfair removal...," he said.
Earlier in the day, opposition parties continued their protest in Parliament for the fourth day in a row, demanding a discussion in both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha over the ongoing SIR. Since the start of the monsoon session, opposition MPs have been moving adjournment motions daily on the issue.
Opposition leaders have also been protesting outside Parliament, alleging that the revision is being used to manipulate the voter list and delete names ahead of the state elections.
In Bihar, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leaders Tejashwi Yadav and Manoj Jha have said there "might" be discussions on the possibility of a poll boycott over the issue.
Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, DMK MP Kanimozhi, and Congress leaders Manickam Tagore and KC Venugopal have all participated in the protest in recent days.
Multiple Congress MPs have also moved adjournment motions in the Rajya Sabha to discuss the SIR being conducted in poll-bound Bihar, raising concerns that the same process could soon be extended to other states, including West Bengal. (ANI)