"SIR is not a new thing": Union Minister Pralhad Joshi on Congress' decision to hold December 14 rally

Hubballi (Karnataka) [India], November 23 (ANI): Union Minister Pralhad Joshi on Saturday questioned the Congress party's decision to organise a rally on December 14 over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, asserting that the exercise is not new and has been undertaken several times in the past.
He said the Congress itself had demanded the revision after alleging the presence of ineligible voters following the Maharashtra Assembly elections.
Speaking to ANI, Joshi said the Election Commission initiated SIR only after Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi wrote to the poll body expressing concerns over alleged discrepancies in the voters' list. He added that similar revisions have been carried out earlier as well, including in Karnataka in 2008, when the names of about 40 lakh voters were removed during a routine updating exercise.
"SIR (Special Intensive Revision), as our party and many of our ministers have said many times, is not a new thing. This has happened many times. SIR was started only after the demand of the Leader of the Opposition, Rahul Gandhi. He wrote after the Maharashtra elections and said that there are many people who are not eligible, but they are in the voters' list... After that, the Election Commission decided for SIR... Wasn't this (Special Intensive Revision) done before? When the revision was done in Karnataka in 2008, the names of about 40 lakh voters were removed... This is an ongoing process," Joshi told ANI.
Echoing his remarks, Union Minister Ramnath Thakur criticised the Congress leadership, particularly its Bihar unit, for levelling what he described as unfounded allegations of "vote theft" against the Election Commission. He noted that despite Congress leaders raising the "Vote Chori" charge during their Bihar Yatra, no local protests occurred when all three Election Commissioners visited the state.
"Before the elections, 2 young princes did a Yatra in Bihar and made allegations on the Election Commission. This was the very issue they raised,'Vote Chori'.All three Election Commissioners were in Bihar for 3 days, but no one in the state protested against them. Then how does the rally that they (Congress) are holding now hold significance?" Thakur said.
Meanwhile, Congress leader KC Venugopal announced the party's "Vote Chor Gaddi Chhod Maha Rally" scheduled for December 14 at Ramlila Maidan in New Delhi, aimed at sending a "message across the nation" against alleged manipulation of the electoral process.
"The spectre of Vote Chori is the biggest danger looming over our democracy today. To send a message across the nation against these attempts to destroy our Constitution, the Congress will be holding the Vote Chor Gaddi Chhod Maha Rally on December 14th (1.30 pm onwards) at Ramlila Maidan, New Delhi," KC Venugopal posted on X.
He said that the rally will mark Congress's fight to "reclaim Indian democracy from the clutches of the Vote Chors!"
Meanwhile, Mahagathbandhan suffered a major defeat in the Bihar Assembly election, securing only 35 seats.
The NDA registered a historic landslide victory in the 2025 Bihar assembly polls, winning 202 of the 243 seats. The ruling alliance secured a three-fourths majority in the 243-member Bihar Assembly, marking the second time the NDA crossed the 200-seat mark in state polls. In 2010, it had won 206 seats. (ANI)