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Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju on Sunday defended the Election Commission (EC) while responding to criticism from Congress and other opposition parties for repeatedly targeting the Election Commission over the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, stating that attacking the constitutional body harms the country.
"I cannot say what issues we will bring up for discussion. The Election Commission does its job. I am not the spokesperson for the Election Commission. The Election Commission is independent, autonomous, and a constitutional body. Everyone knows how much harm attacking it causes to the country. Yet, the Congress and others keep saying it," the Union Minister said. The opposition, particularly the Congress and Trinamool Congress in West Bengal, has alleged that the SIR exercise in several states, as announced by the EC, is a deliberate attempt to disenfranchise minority and marginalised voters ahead of future elections. Earlier on Saturday, Trinamool Congress MP Derek O'Brien launched an attack on the Election Commission of India, accusing it of dodging key questions raised by the TMC delegation during Friday's meeting on the ongoing SIR and asking the poll panel to release the full transcript of the discussion. Addressing a press conference, the Rajya Sabha MP claimed that the Commission spoke for nearly 55 minutes but failed to answer even one of the five specific questions put forward by the TMC team. A delegation of 10 TMC MPs met with CEC Gyanesh Kumar to highlight issues arising from the ongoing SIR process. Meanwhile, the BJP on Wednesday wrote to the ECI raising a series of concerns regarding the ongoing SIR in West Bengal, alleging large-scale irregularities and administrative hurdles that could compromise the integrity of the voter list. Currently, a nationwide SIR is underway in 12 states and union territories, with the final elector's list to be published on February 14, 2026. Separately, Rijiju hailed the NDA's victory in the Bihar Assembly polls, saying a "good atmosphere" has been created in the state and that the results prove Prime Minister Narendra Modi's continued popularity. "Good work has been done there and people vote for those who do good work," Rijiju stated. The NDA registered a historic landslide victory in the 2025 Bihar assembly polls, winning 202 of the 243 seats, while the Mahagathbandhan managed to secure only 35 seats. The ruling alliance secured a three-fourths majority in the 243-member Bihar Assembly, marking the second time the NDA crossed the 200-seat mark in state polls. In the NDA, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won 89 seats, Janata Dal (United) won 85, Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) (LJPRV) won 19, Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) (HAMS) won five, and Rashtriya Lok Morcha won four seats. Among opposition parties, the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) won 25 seats, the Indian National Congress six, the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) (Liberation) [CPI(ML)(L)] two, the Indian Inclusive Party (IIP) one, and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] one seat. All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) secured five seats, while the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) won one seat. Janata Dal (United) chief Nitish Kumar became the Bihar Chief Minister for a record 10th time in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other prominent leaders of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). (ANI)
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