Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson and Member of Parliament Sambit Patra on Monday, 2 November 2026, mounted a strong defence of the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, arguing in Varanasi that the exercise is a routine, decades-old process and not — as the Opposition alleges — a politically motivated purge of voters.

Key Claim: Congress Oversaw More SIR Exercises Than BJP

Addressing a press conference, Patra presented a historical counter-argument: of the 12 SIR exercises conducted since Independence, 10 were carried out under Congress-led governments and only two under NDA rule, including the current one initiated under Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. 'The SIR is conducted to maintain cleanliness and accuracy of electoral rolls. This is the 12th SIR. Ten SIR exercises were conducted during Congress rule and two during our government's tenure,' Patra said.

The BJP's position is that the revision is a constitutionally mandated, apolitical process aimed at ensuring the voters list reflects only genuine Indian citizens — removing names of those who have died, relocated, or appear as duplicates, and excluding those whom Patra described as 'infiltrators.'

The Controversy: 13 Crore Deletions and Opposition Outrage

The trigger for the political row is the deletion of over 13 crore voter names from the draft electoral rolls published recently under the Election Commission-mandated SIR. Opposition parties have accused the BJP-led NDA government of manipulating the electoral process by engineering mass deletions ahead of upcoming elections.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has been among the most vocal critics, alleging that 13 crore votes were 'stolen.' Patra directly rebutted this: 'Rahul Gandhi has alleged that 13 crore votes were stolen. If that were truly the case, what would the state of the nation be today? People would have been out on the streets, protesting.'

BJP Dismisses Ramlila Maidan Rally as 'Flop Show'

The Opposition had convened a mass protest against what it termed 'vote chori' (vote theft) at Delhi's Ramlila Maidan, drawing leaders including Akhilesh Yadav, Mamata Banerjee, Tejashwi Yadav, and Farooq Abdullah. Patra was dismissive of the turnout, calling the event a 'flop show.'

'They had claimed that 10 lakh people would attend the mass protest against SIR, but they could not even gather 20,000 people. More than 50 per cent of the Ramlila Maidan was empty,' Patra said, targeting the gathering's scale. The Opposition has not publicly responded to the attendance figures.

What the SIR Process Involves

The Special Intensive Revision is a periodic exercise mandated by the Election Commission of India (ECI) to audit and clean up voter rolls. Names are removed on specific grounds: the voter has relocated, passed away, is untraceable at the registered address, or is a duplicate entry. The process is governed under the Representation of the People Act and is distinct from routine annual updates.

Critics, however, argue that the sheer scale of the current deletions — 13 crore names — warrants independent scrutiny to ensure that legitimate voters have not been disenfranchised in the process. As the draft rolls move toward finalisation, both the government and the Opposition appear set for a prolonged legal and political battle over the integrity of India's electoral machinery.