Chandigarh, October 14, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
Punjab BJP leader Sunil Jakhar on Wednesday questioned the opposition’s stand on the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, asking why Congress and other parties had accepted the exercise in Punjab but were opposing it in other states. He accused the opposition of politicising the process and attempting to discredit constitutional institutions to regain lost political support.
Speaking to the media outside the office of Punjab’s Chief Electoral Officer, Jakhar praised the state’s electoral machinery for completing the revision process in accordance with the prescribed rules. He said the same Congress leaders who were now protesting against SIR elsewhere had not raised similar objections during the exercise in Punjab.
Referring to the constituencies represented by the current and former Punjab Congress presidents, the Chief Minister, the Finance Minister and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) president, Jakhar claimed that none of these leaders had objected to the process in their respective constituencies or at the state level.
He said political parties had collectively appointed 89,000 Booth Level Agents (BLAs) in Punjab for the exercise. According to Jakhar, the Election Commission shared information with these agents at every stage and obtained their written agreement regarding the process. He further claimed that no eligible voter in Punjab had come forward during the exercise to report that their name had been wrongly deleted from the electoral rolls.
Jakhar pointed out that Punjab Congress leaders had travelled to Delhi to protest against SIR, while AAP leaders had staged a protest in Chandigarh on October 10. He alleged that representatives of both parties had thanked the Chief Electoral Officer on October 12, questioning what he described as their contradictory positions.
“If SIR has been completed properly in Punjab, how can the same exercise, conducted under the same rules, be wrong in other states?” Jakhar asked.
He alleged that the opposition was using the revision exercise for political purposes rather than strengthening its organisational presence. He claimed that Congress lacked grassroots workers in several states and had failed to appoint BLAs in those areas, adding that the party was targeting constitutional institutions instead of addressing its organisational shortcomings.
Jakhar urged opposition parties to identify and raise specific cases of eligible voters whose names had been wrongly deleted. He emphasised that voters who had been left out could approach the authorities to seek restoration of their registration.
“SIR does not mean deleting votes; it means correcting and updating electoral rolls,” he said.
Questioning the opposition’s objections to the removal of names of deceased voters, people who had shifted residence and duplicate entries, Jakhar said the central issue should be whether any eligible voter had been wrongly excluded. He called on such voters to come forward so that the Election Commission could examine their cases and take appropriate corrective action.
Taking a dig at Congress leaders in the Rajya Sabha, Jakhar said senior leaders who had spent their political careers in the Upper House without contesting elections had limited understanding of the practical process of voter registration.
Jakhar Condemns Parminder Singh Jhota’s Murder, Alleges Protection for Drug Traffickers
Separately, Jakhar expressed grief over the murder of Parminder Singh Jhota in Mansa and launched a sharp attack on the Bhagwant Mann-led Punjab government.
He alleged that the government was failing to tackle the drug menace and claimed that narcotics were being sold under its patronage. Jakhar also questioned how the person accused of killing Jhota had obtained an arms licence despite allegedly having four cases registered against him.
He asked whether the circumstances pointed to protection being extended to drug traffickers and accused the AAP government of creating an atmosphere of fear in which people would hesitate to speak out against wrongdoing.
Jakhar further alleged that the government was attempting to silence criticism to allow what he described as its “system of plunder” to continue. These remarks were part of his broader criticism of the state government’s handling of law and order and the drug problem in Punjab.
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