Nilambur, September 23, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Wednesday termed the ongoing controversy over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls an “extremely serious” issue for democracy, questioning the value of elections if the electoral process is not conducted fairly.
Speaking to reporters in Nilambur, the Wayanad MP said her brother and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, had repeatedly raised concerns over alleged bias and irregularities in the electoral process.
“As you know, my brother Rahul Gandhi has been continuously taking up this issue about the bias and injustice going on,” she said.
Priyanka Gandhi said the Election Commissioners themselves had raised certain issues before Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, stressing that the integrity of the electoral process was essential to a functioning democracy.
She said that if elections were unfair or manipulated with the involvement of the Election Commission, it would constitute a grave threat to democratic institutions.
“It is an extremely serious issue for democracy because if there are no elections, then where is the democracy? If the elections are unfair and they are being rigged in any manner, and the Election Commission is assisting in that,” she said.
She further argued that if Election Commissioners were aware of such alleged irregularities and allowed them to continue, the matter would warrant serious investigation. She described such conduct as “treachery against the nation” and “an act of treason”, while calling for those responsible to be investigated.
Priyanka Gandhi said India, as the world’s largest democracy, could not afford to take allegations concerning the electoral process lightly.
“We have had a robust democracy for years, for decades. We can’t afford to go lightly on these issues,” she said, adding that efforts should be made to strengthen democratic institutions.
She also referred to allegations concerning the deletion and manipulation of voter lists in states including Maharashtra and Haryana. She said that if the allegations reported in the media and the concerns repeatedly raised by Rahul Gandhi were found to be true, those responsible should face action.
The remarks came amid a fresh controversy following an investigative report by a leading newspaper, which claimed that on 14 occasions over a 10-month period, two Election Commissioners had recorded objections to steps taken by the Election Commission.
According to the report, the alleged objections related to several decisions and processes, including claims that the two Commissioners were not kept informed about certain matters and issues involving the addition of voters and deletion of names from electoral rolls.
The Election Commission of India (ECI), however, rejected the newspaper report earlier on Wednesday. The poll panel denied that two Election Commissioners had formally “objected on record” to decisions taken without their knowledge.
People familiar with the developments and directly aware of the matter said no Election Commissioner had recorded dissent over decisions taken by the poll body. According to them, the two Commissioners had made certain observations, which were subsequently considered by the Commission.
Meanwhile, senior Congress leader P. Chidambaram called for all decisions taken by the Election Commission in recent years to be reviewed by a Parliamentary Committee.
Chidambaram also demanded the immediate suspension of the SIR process currently underway in several parts of the country.
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