BJP attacks INDIA bloc over SIR row; alleges alliance is "fragmented

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday (September 30, 2026) hit out at the Congress and its allies, alleging that they were spreading misinformation and undermining democratic institutions. Defending voter-list verification, the BJP also took a jibe at the absence of some alliance partners from the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) bloc's meeting on the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) issue.

At a press conference, Union Minister and senior BJP leader Shivraj Singh Chouhan said that after the Congress's defeat in one election after another, it should have done introspection. "If they win, they hail democracy; if they lose, they condemn the Election Commission. This is their frustration over defeat," he said.

"The Congress has decided that it will not improve. Whether it is Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge ji or Rahul Gandhi ji, instead of apologising for their mistakes, they are spreading confusion. They are lying and making fabricated allegations," Mr. Chouhan said.

Referring to the INDIA bloc meeting, he said, "Even before the meeting, the alliance fell apart." He raised questions over the absence of Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam president M.K. Stalin, and Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal. Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray and Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren joined the meeting virtually.

Mr. Chouhan alleged that the Opposition alliance had become badly fragmented, with its constituent parties going separate ways. "The truth is that the INDI Alliance is not ready to accept Rahul Gandhi as its leader... even the Congress itself does not have faith in him," he claimed.

The Union Minister said the Congress and its allies were, out of frustration, "making excuses in advance for the defeat in upcoming elections". "The programme from October 2 to 8 has been announced: Save Democracy March. This is not a Save Democracy March, but a Save Dynasty March, save the family campaign...but the people have decided not to allow dynastic politics to continue," he said.

"Rahul ji had already stated before the election in West Bengal that the BJP was winning because of Mamata Banerjee's mistakes," Mr. Chouhan alleged, questioning why SIR was being cited later.

"Whenever elections are near, the INDIA bloc, Rahul ji, Kharge ji either start politicising the courts or constitutional institutions...If any court does not give a decision according to their wishes, they question the judiciary. They go to foreign soil and advocate for foreign powers to interfere in India's democracy...and even after doing everything they could, when they could not remove Modi ji through democratic means, once again they are conspiring to spread anarchy and unrest in the country," he alleged.

"A clean voter list is the soul of democracy. Why should the name of a person who is no longer alive be in the voter list? If someone is living in two places, in a city and in a village, why should their name not be removed from one place? If someone is not even a citizen of the country, why should their name be in the voter list?" Mr. Chouhan asked.