New Delhi, Nov 16: Reeling from its poor performance in Bihar and sharpening its charge of “vote chori”, the Congress has convened a detailed review meeting on November 18 with its top state-level office-bearers from 12 states and Union territories where the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls is underway. The move comes a day after the party’s senior leadership, including Rahul Gandhi and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, met in Delhi to assess what it termed a deeply disappointing outcome in Bihar, where the NDA won 202 seats while the Mahagathbandhan secured only 35.
A senior functionary said the upcoming meeting at Indira Bhawan will bring together AICC in-charges, Pradesh Congress Committee chiefs, Congress Legislature Party leaders and secretaries from states and UTs covered by the ongoing SIR exercise. These include Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Puducherry, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and Lakshadweep.
On Saturday, the Election Commission said that more than 95 per cent of the 5.99 crore electors across nine states and three UTs had received enumeration forms as part of the SIR rollout. According to its daily bulletin, over 48.67 crore forms have already been distributed across the 12 regions. Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Kerala and West Bengal are among the states scheduled to go to polls in 2026. Assam, also due for elections that year, will have its revision schedule announced separately.
The second phase of the SIR, which involves the enumeration process, began on November 4 and will continue until December 4.
Speaking on Friday, Rahul Gandhi described the Bihar verdict as “surprising” and alleged that the election had not been fair from the beginning. He said the Congress and the wider INDIA bloc would conduct their own detailed examination of the results. The party further alleged that the outcome reflected “vote chori on a gigantic scale”, accusing the prime minister, the home minister and the Election Commission of orchestrating it. Gandhi’s campaign in Bihar had prominently centred around his repeated “vote chori” allegations.
