At the Constitution Club in New Delhi, leaders from more than 20 parties gathered for a strategic meeting.
Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, and Mallikarjun Kharge were joined by SP nominees Harendra Malik and Maulana Mohibbullah Nadvi, while the TMC, RJD, and J&K leaders also took seats.
Kharge slammed the Modi government, saying it had "systematically hollowed out democratic foundations" and called CEC Gyanesh Kumar a "puppet" of the ruling BJP, echoing the Congress Working Committee’s earlier call for the CEC’s removal.
The government and Election Commission sources dismissed the criticism, insisting that the SIR exercise is a lawful, court‑approved process aimed at cleaning the voter rolls by removing dead, duplicate, fake and shifted names while safeguarding the inclusion of eligible voters.
The bloc’s agenda is to mobilise a nationwide agitation, with protests and public rallies slated for the five states scheduled for elections in 2027, and to move an impeachment motion in Parliament next month.
In Mumbai, a 55‑year‑old voter, Pratima Desai, said her name had been deleted from the roll during the SIR, leaving her unable to vote in the last election, and she fears a repeat of the mistake if the process isn’t transparent.
The opposition will file the impeachment motion on September 12, and the government is expected to defend the SIR and the CEC’s mandate in a parliamentary debate.