Asserting that the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise was completely transparent and tech-driven, Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Sunday accused the opposition Congress of trying to trigger “anarchy” nationwide following repeated electoral losses.
Speaking to media at the state guest house, Majhi dismissed claims that Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar made unilateral decisions without consulting the other two election commissioners, terming the allegations “completely false and politically motivated.”
“The Congress is striving to spread unrest throughout the country by misguiding people. A party burdened by a legacy of missteps during its 60-year governance, including the imposition of the Emergency,is now actively trying to discredit constitutional institutions like the Election Commission to score political points,” Majhi claimed.
Rejecting allegations regarding the deletion of nearly 13 crore names from the voter list, Majhi stated that the removed entries comprised 2.8 crore deceased voters, 3 crore absent voters, 6.3 crore migrated voters, and 1 crore duplicate registrations.
The Chief Minister also refuted claims that alterations to Form 6, used for new voter enrollments, were made with improper intent.
“The country currently has 17.38 crore Gen-Z voters aged between 18 and 28. Approximately 50,000 young citizens join the voter rolls every month. Form 6 contains no irregularities; on the contrary, it has been streamlined for ease of use,” he added.
Majhi highlighted that political parties deployed Booth Level Agents (BLAs) throughout the SIR drive, and these representatives retained full authority to submit claims and objections.
He further noted that the Supreme Court had already validated the legality of the SIR initiative.
Addressing criticisms about the centralization of the voter database, Majhi stated that electoral rolls remain under the direct jurisdiction of Chief Electoral Officers and Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) in states.
“The system continues to be completely decentralised, preserving all legal and procedural powers of state EROs. The only shift is the digitization of the workflow using the ECI-NET and ERO-NET software modules,” he explained.
Majhi pointed out that senior Congress leader and former Kerala Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala had previously backed the SIR, acknowledging the existence of fraudulent voter entries under prior Left-led administrations in Kerala.
Taking a direct swipe at the opposition, Majhi remarked, “Whenever the Congress wins an election, the system is flawless; whenever they lose, democracy suddenly falls into peril.”
He concluded by noting that the CEC selection framework has become significantly more inclusive following the 2023 legislation, which revamped the selection committee to comprise the Prime Minister, a Union Cabinet Minister, and the Leader of the Opposition.
