Cong to hold review meeting for states undergoing electoral roll revision

In the wake of its heavy defeat in the Bihar Assembly elections, the Congress has scheduled a high-level review meeting on November 18 with office-bearers from 12 states and Union Territories where the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls is currently underway. The meeting will bring together AICC in-charges, Pradesh Congress Committee chiefs, Congress Legislature Party leaders and party secretaries at Indira Bhawan.

The move comes a day after the party suffered a major setback in Bihar, where the NDA swept the polls with 202 seats, leaving the Mahagathbandhan with just 35. Senior Congress leaders, including Rahul Gandhi and party president Mallikarjun Kharge, met soon after to assess the defeat. The party has since questioned the Election Commission’s role in the conduct of the Bihar polls, with Gandhi calling the results “surprising” and alleging that the election was unfair from the outset.

According to a senior party functionary, the November 18 meeting will specifically review developments in states where the SIR process is ongoing. The Election Commission has said that more than 95 per cent of the 5.99 crore electors across nine states and three UTs have already received enumeration forms as part of the SIR Phase-II exercise, which began on November 4 and will continue until December 4.

In its daily SIR bulletin, the EC noted that over 48.67 crore enumeration forms have been distributed across 12 regions Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Puducherry, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and Lakshadweep. Among these, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, West Bengal and Puducherry are scheduled to hold elections in 2026. Assam, also due for polls in 2026, will have its electoral roll revision notified separately.

Rahul Gandhi, reiterating his central campaign theme of “vote chori” (vote theft), accused the ruling BJP of manipulating the Bihar election, alleging that the results showed irregularities “on a gigantic scale.” The Congress and the INDIA bloc have announced they will conduct a thorough review of the Bihar outcome as part of their larger internal assessment.