Congress Launches ‘Vote Bachao, Desh Bachao’ Campaign Over SIR Electoral Roll Revisions

The Congress on October 5, 2026, announced a nationwide campaign against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and its broader allegations of “vote chori”, with party workers set to reach out to people whose names have been removed from electoral rolls and assist them in seeking re-enrolment.

The campaign, titled “Vote Bachao, Desh Bachao”, was announced after a meeting chaired by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge with party general secretaries, State in-charges and Pradesh Congress Committee chiefs at the Indira Bhawan in New Delhi. Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi also attended the meeting.

According to Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh, the party plans to reach out to more than 13.3 crore people whose names, according to Congress, have been struck off voter lists during the SIR exercise. The figure cited by the party is based on information from six States and covers around 10 lakh polling booths. Congress workers will conduct household-level outreach and try to assist eligible voters in getting their names added back to the electoral rolls.

At the booth level, Congress plans to deploy workers described as “vote rakshaks”, or guardians of the vote. Their role will include identifying people whose names have been deleted and helping eligible voters with the re-enrolment process.

The campaign will be carried out in several phases. Opposition INDIA bloc parties are holding district-level meetings and marches from October 2 to October 8. Congress has separately planned block-level marches and meetings from October 10 to October 20 under the “Vote Bachao, Desh Bachao” campaign.

Congress also plans to organise “Vote Bachao, Desh Bachao, CEC Hatao” rallies at the State and district levels between October 25 and November 25, along with village-level meetings or chaupals. The party says these programmes will focus on explaining its concerns over electoral-roll revisions and reaching affected voters.

The Congress has also invited Opposition parties outside the INDIA bloc, including the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), to participate in the planned mobilisation. A mega INDIA bloc rally is scheduled to be held in Delhi on November 1.

The party has further announced a “Chalo Delhi” programme. Six marches are planned from locations in Rajasthan, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh around November 25, with the yatras expected to culminate in Delhi on November 26, Constitution Day.

Congress leaders have sharply criticised Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over the SIR exercise and have demanded his removal. These are political allegations and demands made by the Congress; the Election Commission has maintained that its decisions and orders have full legal sanction and follow established statutory procedures.

The campaign comes amid an ongoing political and legal debate over electoral-roll revisions, voter deletions and the procedures followed under SIR. The Congress says its campaign is intended to protect the voting rights of eligible citizens, while the Election Commission has defended the legal basis of the revision process.

The coming weeks will therefore see increased political mobilisation around electoral-roll issues, with Congress focusing on booth-level outreach, voter re-enrolment and coordination with Opposition parties ahead of its planned November programmes.