Kharge Calls Elections ‘Illegal’, Demands Lok Sabha, State Assemblies Dissolved And Fresh Ballot Polls

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Saturday escalated the Opposition’s campaign against the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, calling the country’s existing elections “illegal” and demanding the dissolution of the Lok Sabha and all state Assemblies, followed by fresh polls using ballot papers.

Speaking to reporters in Kalaburagi, Kharge alleged that the electoral process had been compromised through the alleged misuse of electronic voting machines and irregularities in the ongoing voter-roll revision. He also described Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and state chief ministers as “illegal” on the grounds that they were elected through what he called an invalid electoral process.

Kharge’s remarks come days after the INDIA bloc held a meeting on September 30 on the SIR issue and announced a joint campaign, including protests and a march by Opposition MPs to the Election Commission on October 6. The bloc has also backed a return to ballot-paper voting and demanded greater transparency in the revision of electoral rolls.

Kharge alleged that names of genuine voters were being removed from electoral rolls and claimed that the exercise could particularly hurt poor people, workers, the uneducated and minorities. He also alleged that political workers were visiting local wards and villages to seek deletion of names. These claims are part of the Opposition’s broader allegations over SIR and have not been established as facts by the material cited here.

The Election Commission has defended the SIR process and its statutory procedures. The exercise includes house-to-house verification, publication of draft rolls and a claims-and-objections process, with different timelines for different states.

Kharge also attacked the 2023 law governing the appointment and service conditions of the Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners, particularly Section 16, which provides legal protection concerning proceedings arising from acts, words or things done in the course of official duty.

He further questioned changes to the selection mechanism for election commissioners and accused the government of weakening institutional safeguards.

With the Opposition preparing more protests and legal challenges over SIR, the dispute has now widened from voter-roll revision to a larger political confrontation over EVMs, election administration, the appointment of election commissioners and the credibility of the electoral process.