Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said the ruling powers are realising why the Congress Party was calling the entire process “flawed” from the beginning. | Photo Credit: ARUN KULKARNI

Owing to outrage over 33.13 lakh voters facing notices due to the ongoing SIR exercise in the national capital, Congress described it as the “Method Of Disenfranchising Indians” which, it observed, has now turned into a “Frankenstein monster”.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge questioned the whole process and said the SIR, which started in Bihar, has now reached the doorstep of Delhi, and perhaps now the ruling powers are realising why the Congress Party was calling the entire process “flawed” from the beginning.

“SIR is not merely a tool for the BJP to steal votes and destroy democracy, but this flawed process is a Frankenstein’s Monster that has now trapped its own people!,” he posted on X as the news spread that prominent persons even from the ruling BJP dispensation too got notices from the Chief Electoral Officer, Delhi.

Former deputy prime minister LK Advani, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, former vice-president Jagdeep Dhankhar and Election Commissioner S S Sandhu, Delhi CM Rekha Gupta, Lieutenant Governor (LG) of Delhi Taranjit Singh Sandhu are among the many prominent figures in the list of voters who received notices for “discrepancies” in their details furnished under the SIR exercise.

He questioned the basis of stripping large number of people of their right to vote and cited the example of West Bengal where SIR has already been completed. He stated that 93 per cent of the Bengal cases decided so far have won their appeals — meaning 1,13,943 people will be added back to the voters’ list.

He also criticised Election Commission for treating certain voters as VIP.

“Is there now a “Special Category” of voters under India’s Universal Adult Franchise—VIP voters and ordinary voters?” he asked.

“Is this not a violation of the principle of “One Person, One Vote, One Value” enshrined in our Constitution? Has a VIP vote now become more valuable? were his other posers in a long thread on SIR in Delhi.”

Trinamool Congress leader Saket Gokhale wondered how Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar is listed as a voter in Delhi, as, according to him, Kumar’s name was not found in previous SIR lists for Uttar Pradesh, Kerala and Delhi -- the three states he has lived and worked.

Gokhale, a former Rajya Sabha MP, wrote on X that Kumar is shown as a voter in Delhi’s electoral roll, registered as Gyanesh Kumar, son of Subodh Kumar.

He said Kumar was born in Uttar Pradesh, is a Kerala cadre officer, and has done postings in Delhi.

“If a person cannot be mapped to the last SIR in 2002/2003, they are flagged as a ‘logical discrepancy’ & receive a notice. Now, Gyanesh Kumar was born in UP, is a Kerala cadre IAS officer, and has done postings in Delhi,” Gokhale said.

“So I searched for ‘Gyanesh Kumar, son of Subodh Kumar’ in the last SIR for these 3 states. Shockingly, in all 3 states, there is NOBODY registered as Gyanesh Kumar, son of Subodh Kumar in the last SIR,” he claimed.

“Now, if such an entry doesn’t exist in previous SIR, his current name on voter list should be flagged as a ‘logical discrepancy’ & he should’ve gotten a notice,” he said. At the same time, he asked: “Is CEC Gyanesh Kumar a citizen of India?” while demanding from the poll panel to clarify in which state’s previous SIR Kumar is marked in, and whether he was a registered voter.

The Delhi Chief Electoral Officer’s (CEO) office, however, maintained that system-generated notices were being issued to voters with discrepancies to correct their data in ECINET and stressed that “there is no existential crisis as is being brought out in social and print”. The list of voters issued notices has been uploaded on the website of the Delhi CEO, giving reasons behind every case. Voters facing notices will get chance to defend themselves as time available for disposal of notices/claims and objections is till October 29, said Office of CEO in a statement on Monday.

It also stated that special camps are being organised to ensure that no eligible voters are left out. First round of special camps were organised on Sunday in all the constituencies and the next time it will take place on September 27.

Published on September 21, 2026