SC decision on SIR 'complete defeat' of Cong, oppn parties; Rahul must introspect: BJP

The BJP on Wednesday termed the Supreme Court's verdict on the SIR a ''complete defeat'' of the Congress and other opposition parties on ''moral, political and constitutional'' grounds, and asked Rahul Gandhi to introspect.

The apex court on Monday upheld the Election Commission's power to conduct a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter rolls, and said the exercise ''breathes life'' into the constitutional mandate for fair elections.

Delivering a major victory for the poll panel, a top court bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant also held that the exercise advances the ''constitutional imperative of free and fair elections''.

Commenting on the top court's verdict, BJP national spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi said, ''This is a complete defeat of the Congress, particularly Rahul Gandhi. The Congress and the opposition parties have collapsed across all three dimensions – ethical, political and constitutional.''.

With the Supreme Court's judgement in the matter, all the allegations that Gandhi levelled against the SIR to cover his ''indolence and political incapacity'' have failed and stand ''completely neutralised'', Trivedi added.

''I will ask the Congress, especially Rahul Gandhi, to do introspection after this decision of the court and abandon the use of abusive language,'' the BJP Rajya Sabha MP told a press conference at the party headquarters here.

Alleging that Gandhi was peddling ''lies'' with regard to the SIR exercise, Trivedi said the top court's judgment has exposed the ''real face'' of the Congress.

''With agreement in China, family in Italy, centre for misinformation in American institutions, centre for ideas in England and Europe, and their voters' links to Bangladesh, the Congress' real character also stands exposed before the people of the country now,'' the BJP leader added.

Another BJP spokesperson, Pradeep Bhandari, alleged in a post on X, ''It is clear that Rahul Gandhi and the Congress opposed (the SIR) all through because they stood with illegal infiltrators, not with Indian voters. This was in true sense an anti-national act.''.

''Will Rahul Gandhi apologise today for defaming Indian Democracy?'' Bhandari asked.

Disposing of a batch of petitions challenging the SIR exercise in Bihar, the apex court on Wednesday held that deletion from the voter list does not amount to a legal declaration that an individual is not a citizen.

According to the apex court, the credibility of the democratic process rests on the accuracy of the voters' list.

''We are unable to conclude that the impugned exercise is a process resorted solely for administrative convenience,'' the bench said.

The Congress said that although the Supreme Court acknowledged the constitutional validity of the SIR of electoral rolls, its verdict raised more questions than it answered.

The main opposition party disagreed with the verdict and said legal sanction could confer prima facie legitimacy to the SIR but it could not cure the ''malice in implementation''.

Addressing a press conference at the party headquarters, Congress senior spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi said the issue was always a matter of substance and intent but never of form, and the party had questioned the mode, manner, timing and style in which it was carried out by the Election Commission.

Trivedi slammed the Congress for criticising the top court's judgment, saying there remains no justification or basis for questioning the constitutionality of the SIR process after the Supreme Court's unequivocal ruling in the matter.

''Now I want to ask the Congress party -- if you are holding a press conference from your party platform against the Supreme Court's ruling, aren't you putting the Constitution in danger?'' the BJP leader said in a post in Hindi on X.

Trivedi accused the Congress and its allies in the INDIA bloc of spreading ''confusion'' about the SIR process, saying it was ''unfortunate and concerning''.

''After having failed morally, constitutionally and politically, is questioning the Supreme Court's verdict not an act of opposing the Constitution?'' Trivedi asked the Congress.

''Today, the Congress party is becoming the greatest threat to the peaceful democratic process and the just constitutional order,'' he added.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)