The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday, 6 October 2026, launched a sharp counter-offensive against the Opposition in Odisha, defending the Election Commission of India (ECI) and the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, and accusing the Congress and the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) of lacking credible grievances against both the Union and state governments.

BJP's Core Argument

BJP state General Secretary Biranchi Narayan Tripathy said the Opposition had no substantive issue to raise against the party's governments — either at the Centre, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi has completed 12 years in office, or in Odisha, where the BJP government has completed two-and-a-half years. Tripathy argued that the public continued to back the BJP on account of its development initiatives and welfare programmes.

Congress Protest and the SIR Exercise

Responding to the Congress protest outside the office of the Chief Electoral Officer in Bhubaneswar — where the party demanded the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar — Tripathy questioned the Congress's moral authority on electoral matters. He claimed that the SIR exercise had been conducted 10 times across the country, including nine times during Congress-led governments at the Centre. He further alleged that the Congress had previously appointed a former Election Commissioner to a Council of Ministers and had fielded another former Election Commissioner as a candidate against BJP leader L.K. Advani.

Allegations Against the BJD

Tripathy also levelled pointed allegations against the BJD, accusing the regional party of ideological inconsistency. He alleged that the BJD had maintained links with the INDIA bloc for a considerable period, and that its parliamentary party leader had attended a meeting of the Opposition alliance. According to Tripathy, the BJD was attempting to preserve its political relevance by seeking support from different formations — at times moving closer to the BJP and at others to the INDIA Bloc.

Legal Position and BJP's Stand

On the legal dimension, Tripathy noted that the electoral roll revision exercise was already under consideration before the Supreme Court. He urged the Opposition that if it possessed evidence of deliberate deletion of voters' names, it should place those details in the public domain and pursue available legal remedies rather than staging protests. He reiterated that the BJP remained committed to the Constitution, democracy, and the rule of law.

What's Next

With the Supreme Court already engaged on the SIR matter, legal proceedings are likely to shape the next phase of the debate. The BJP's pushback signals that the row over electoral roll revision is set to intensify ahead of any upcoming electoral cycle in the state, with both the Congress and the BJD likely to sustain pressure on the ECI.