Chandigarh, Sep 27 (PTI) Punjab BJP president Kewal Singh Dhillon on Sunday accused the Congress of creating doubts about the Election Commission through its “manufactured controversy”, saying the poll panel’s latest statement “exposed” the allegations levelled against it regarding the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
The ECI on Saturday asserted that all SIR orders received unanimous consent from all three commissioners and that the updates to Form 6 for voter enrolment were upheld by the Supreme Court, as it sought to address issues at the centre of a raging row over decision-making in the poll panel and concerns over exclusion of voters from the rolls.
The statement came after the Indian Express reported that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi objected on record at least 14 times over the past 10 months to decisions and orders on Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls that they said were issued without their knowledge or recommendation.
Dhillon stated that the poll body’s clarification made it clear that decisions relating to SIR and other major operational matters were taken with the approval of all three election commissioners.
“The ECI, after a full meeting on September 26, made it clear that its decisions on the electoral roll revision exercise were unanimous. The commission has also maintained that the SIR orders issued since June 24, 2025, had the approval of the full commission, refuting all baseless allegations of the opposition party,” said Dhillon here.
Dhillon said the Congress and its allies have once again been “exposed”.
“They tried to manufacture a controversy around the ECI and create an impression of a division within a constitutional institution. The Election Commission’s clarification has demolished this narrative. Congress must stop using constitutional institutions as political targets simply because the facts do not suit its narrative,” Dhillon said.
Asserting that the politics of suspicion cannot replace facts, the Punjab BJP chief noted that differing questions or suggestions during an institutional decision-making process are not the same thing as a disagreement over the final decision.
“The Election Commission has already clarified that operational inputs raised during the drafting process were part of normal deliberations and that final decisions were unanimous,” Dhillon said.
He mentioned how various opposition parties, including the Congress in particular, had launched an attack on the ECI and the BJP.
“The opposition not only alleged collusion between the ECI and the BJP, but also alleged that India’s democracy has been compromised. These were highly immature allegations.
Dhillon called on the opposition to instead encourage eligible citizens to participate in the electoral process and cooperate with the authorities in ensuring accurate and updated electoral rolls.
“The ECI has also said that outreach efforts are being undertaken to facilitate enrolment and voter participation, including through field-level officials”, he said.
Dhillon accused the Congress of repeatedly attempting to undermine public confidence in constitutional institutions whenever political narratives do not go in its favour.
“The opposition previously raised questions about electoral machinery, the ECI and other institutions and is now attempting to turn an administrative and procedural issue into a political controversy.
Emphasising that political parties have every right to question decisions and seek clarification, Dhillon stated that spreading unverified allegations against institutions responsible for conducting elections is not in the interest of democracy. PTI CHS MPL
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