Mallikarjun Kharge asked Shashi Tharoor whether he would join the Congress‑planned protest on October 2 or merely publish his comments in the press, during the party’s Tuesday Working Committee meeting.
Tharoor, long a vocal critic of the Election Commission, had urged the party to mobilise on Gandhi Jayanti, citing the SIR as an attempt to tamper with voter lists. The Special Intensive Revision, launched last year, has already drawn 14 objections from senior Election Commissioners over delays, deletions and database access.
The Congress, which has called for the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, has staged demonstrations in several states, with party workers chanting slogans outside polling offices. A resident of Lucknow, who helped clean the polling booth, said the rallies were “intense but peaceful.”
The Election Commission, in a statement, dismissed the allegations of institutional dissent, labeling the objections as routine administrative queries. It added that the drafting process is part of normal decision‑making.
The outcome of the debate will be sealed at the INDIA bloc meeting scheduled for Wednesday, when the party will vote on whether to launch the protest and the structure of the march. The decision will shape the opposition’s strategy ahead of the upcoming general elections.