New Delhi: Union Minister Kiren Rijiju on Saturday challenged the Congress to explain its electoral defeats while questioning its criticism of the Election Commission of India (ECI) and opposition to the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
In a post on X, Rijiju posed five questions to the opposition party, accusing it of attempting to undermine the Constitution and democracy.
He asked how the Congress was reduced to 44 seats in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections when the election commissioners had been appointed by its own government.
"How did Congress get only 44 MPs in 2014 Lok Sabha election when Election Commissioners were appointed by their Govt?" he wrote.
I challenge Congress party to answer to the basic questions:1. How did congress get only 44 MPs in 2014 Lok Sabha election when Election Commissioners were appointed by their Govt?2. When Gyanesh Kumar was not CEC in 2024, how did Congress face a hatric defeat?3. Will present congress CMs resign & also apologize for forming the Govts during 2014 to 2026?4. Should all the names in voter lists who are illegal immigrants, dead, shifted or duplicate be removed from voter list or not?5. Were SIRs carried out in 1952-56, 1958-61, 1965-66, 1983-84, 1987-88, 1993, 1995, and 2002-2004 illegal?One family party with outside forces is trying to destroy the Constitution & Indian Democracy.
Referring to the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Rijiju questioned how the Congress suffered a third consecutive defeat when Gyanesh Kumar, the incumbent Chief Election Commissioner, was not heading the poll panel at the time.
Kumar was an election commissioner during the 2024 general election, having assumed office on 15 March that year. He became Chief Election Commissioner on 19 February 2025.
The minister also asked whether Congress chief ministers currently in office would resign and apologise for forming governments following elections held between 2014 and 2026.
Defending the SIR exercise, Rijiju argued that electoral rolls should exclude the names of illegal immigrants, deceased voters, people who had shifted residence and duplicate entries. He questioned whether the Congress opposed removing such names.
He also cited previous intensive revisions of electoral rolls, asking whether similar exercises conducted in 1952–56, 1958–61, 1965–66, 1983–84, 1987–88, 1993, 1995 and 2002–04 were illegal.
"One family party with outside forces is trying to destroy the Constitution & Indian Democracy," Rijiju alleged.
The minister's remarks come amid an ongoing legal and political confrontation over the SIR exercise and allegations concerning the functioning of the Election Commission.
In an affidavit filed before the Supreme Court on 26 October, the ECI rejected allegations of unilateral decision-making by the Chief Election Commissioner.
The poll panel asserted that orders concerning the SIR exercise had been approved unanimously by all three members.