Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi has raised questions regarding the ongoing Special Intensive Review (SIR) exercise in 12 states and union territories. He said that it should be countered politically, organizationally and legally. According to sources, Rahul Gandhi made this comment during the meeting of several senior Congress leaders.
A review meeting was held at the party headquarters Indira Bhawan with in-charges, state unit heads, Congress Legislature Party leaders and secretaries of the 12 states and union territories where the SIR exercise is going on.
Rahul Gandhi targets Election Commission
Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, former President Rahul Gandhi, All India Congress Committee (AICC) in-charges of 12 states and union territories, State Congress Committee chiefs as well as Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leaders and secretaries also attended the meeting. During the meeting, Rahul Gandhi also said that it is the responsibility of the Election Commission to provide clean voter list, but instead it is trying to put this responsibility on political parties.
Preparation for big rally in Delhi
He claimed that the process of SIR is being adopted in a hurry and its purpose is to remove the names of genuine voters from the voter list. General Secretary KC Venugopal said that a rally will be organized against SIR at Ramlila Maidan in Delhi in the first week of December.
The Election Commission had said on Monday (17 November 2025) that out of approximately 51 crore voters in nine states and three union territories, more than 50 crore voters have received the counting forms under the ongoing SIR process of the voter list. In the daily SIR bulletin, the Commission had said that 50.11 crore enumeration forms have been distributed in 12 states and union territories. In other words, 98.32 per cent of the 50.99 crore voters have received partially filled forms.
SIR exercise continues in these states
The states and union territories where the SIR exercise is going on are Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Puducherry, Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep. Among these, assembly elections are to be held in Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Kerala and West Bengal in 2026. Assembly elections are to be held in Assam next year also. The Commission has announced special revision for this north-eastern state.