Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has intensified the Congress-led opposition campaign against the Election Commission, calling Prime Minister Narendra Modi an “illegal Prime Minister” and demanding fresh elections through ballot papers.
Speaking in Kalaburagi, Karnataka, Kharge said “all the elections were illegal” and argued that the Union government, state governments and ministers elected through the existing electoral process had no legitimacy. He also described Home Minister Amit Shah as an “illegal minister” and demanded dissolution of the Lok Sabha and state Assemblies.
Kharge linked his remarks to the opposition’s allegations surrounding electronic voting machines, electoral-roll changes and the Election Commission’s ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR). The Election Commission has officially undertaken SIR-2026, with its voter portal providing facilities for enumeration, name searches and submission of documents.
The Congress has alleged that the revision could lead to legitimate voters being removed from electoral rolls and has demanded greater transparency in the process. The INDIA bloc has announced district-level “Save Democracy” demonstrations from October 2 to 8 and plans to march to the Election Commission in New Delhi on October 6. Opposition leaders also plan to approach President Droupadi Murmu with their concerns.
The dispute has also moved into the legal arena. The Supreme Court has agreed to hear a petition challenging the functioning of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and seeking to invalidate the nationwide SIR. The petition alleges that some decisions concerning the revision were taken without the required collective decision-making of the multi-member Election Commission.
BJP leaders rejected Kharge’s remarks. Union minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan accused the Congress president of insulting the Constitution and the electoral mandate of voters, saying the remarks amounted to questioning the legitimacy of elected governments.
The INDIA bloc is expected to take its objections to the poll panel and President Droupadi Murmu, keeping the SIR exercise, voter deletions and EVMs at the centre of its campaign.
