A delegation of the MaharashtraCongress on Tuesday (September 22, 2026) met the State’s Chief Electoral Officer, S. Chockalingam, and expressed apprehension that 30% of the State’s electorate is likely to be disenfranchised. The leaders raised concerns and anomalies about the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) campaign for the electoral rolls, seeking a two-month extension for submitting claims and objections.

In a six-page memorandum submitted to Mr Chockalingam, the national party highlighted widespread discrepancies in voter data, including numerous ‘unmapped’ and ‘anomalous’ entries, and the alleged unjustified removal of over two crore voters. Adding that the current festive season had led to the non-availability of the voters and the BLOs, the party said that the election body should consider extending the deadline.

The delegation expressed concern about the lack of transparency and adherence to due process, citing insufficient notice periods for voters and the challenging process for citizens to verify their electoral status.

‘Serious questions’

Of the 9,78,54,049 voters in the State before the exercise, 2,06,88,487 names, or 21.14%, had been dropped, the party said. Moreover, notices are going to be issued to 1,22,24,007 voters as ‘unmapped’ or ‘anomalous’, since their records have not matched with the 2002 electoral rolls. The Congress termed the deletion of more than 2.06 crore names between the 2024 assembly elections and August 31, 2026, as ‘unprecedented and alarming’.

“According to 2011 Census, the population of the state was 11.23 Crore. Of them, 93 lakh were children in the age group of 0 to 4 years. If they are excluded, the adult population of the state today is 10 Crore. In that comparison, the final voter list is likely to have a reduction of 20% to 25%, which is substantial. It raises serious questions about the SIR process,” the six-page memorandum of the party stated.

The party also claimed that 40 lakh new names had been added to the ASDDO list during the 2024 Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assembly elections. ASDD stands for Absent, Shifted, Dead (or Deleted), and Duplicate.

Congress also claimed that the SIR exercise had failed to effectively address the issue of duplicate voters. “Nearly 25,000 duplicate names have remained in six assembly constituencies in Nagpur district — Kamthi, Hingna, Ramtek, Umred, Saoner and Katol,” the letter stated. The party demanded that the deduplication software be used effectively by the Chief Electoral Officer to remove the duplication. It also sought a thorough probe in the matter.

The party demanded a mandatory two-month extension for filing voter forms, claims and objections and sought at least three opportunities for hearings and submission of evidence. The Congress said that the current period of August 31-September 30 for filing Form 6 was inadequate, particularly as it coincided with Janmashtami, Bail Pola and Ganeshotsav. The party said that due to the festive season, the process of the serving of notices was delayed by almost a fortnight.

Flagging the exclusion of 2.06 crore names in Maharashtra’s draft electoral rolls after the special intensive revision (SIR), the Congress on Tuesday (September 1, 2026) said votes were being added and deleted to ensure that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) wins elections.

The deletions in Maharashtra, where draft rolls were published on Monday (August 31), are the largest in absolute numbers for any State in the ongoing Phase 3 of the SIR.

Following the 2024 Maharashtra elections, the Congress had formally submitted representations to the Election Commission alleging large-scale voter roll manipulation, including unusual voter spikes in several constituencies. It had alleged that forged documentation, such as fake Aadhaar cards with mismatched names and photos, were used to add fictitious voters without physical verification of addresses.

On Tuesday (September 1, 2026), Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi said “the BJP and the ‘vote theft commission’ keep changing their tactics, and they will continue to do so; the goal remains just one: BJP’s victory at any cost, and the end of India’s democracy”.

In a post on X, he said: “Maharashtra 2024 – Suddenly, 3.9 million new voters were added between the Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha elections. I said it then, and I say it today: This was vote theft.”

“And now in Maharashtra, 2.07 crore voters have been removed from the draft list — that’s every fifth voter. Lok Sabha 2024: 9.29 crore, Vidhan Sabha 2024: 9.7 crore, SIR 2026: 7.78 crore. Which list was correct,” Mr. Gandhi asked.

“For a government built on vote theft, the people are not important—that’s why this BJP neither listens to the people nor obeys their command,” he added.

Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge said votes are added when it suits the BJP. “Where it doesn’t, votes are split to perpetrate vote theft,” he said.

“The BJP’s conspiracy to hollow out Indian democracy by stealing votes is coming out into the open. Instead of acting as the guardian of fair elections, the Election Commission is functioning like the “Save BJP’s Chair Commission,” he wrote on X.

Both leaders said that in West Bengal, 91% of the voter names struck off in the SIR had to be reinstated after appeals. “That means 9 out of every 10 names were wrongly deleted, and added back only after the election. I said it then, and I say it today: This was vote theft”, Mr. Gandhi said.

Mr. Kharge said that the “same game” was being repeated in Delhi. “Voters were increased before the Assembly elections, then names of 4.756 million voters vanished from the draft list, and preparations are underway to issue notices to 3.3 million other voters,” he said.

He said that in Telangana and Karnataka, Congress workers faced similar manipulations every day. “The country is now uniting against vote theft. The nation has understood the BJP’s conspiracy, the thief has been caught. Punishment will surely be meted out for holding democracy captive,” he added.

The Election Commission, meanwhile, has shared figures showing that 3,35,910 booth-level agents appointed by different recognised political parties were engaged in preparing the draft electoral roll for Maharashtra, and another 33,226 for Delhi.

The Maharashtra Congress is set to begin overhaul of its organisational at the grassroot level through its Sangathan Srujan Abhiyan amid criticism among workers over the lack of party organisation and dominance of repeat faces. 

The change will include the first-ever selection of the taluka (block) president.

As part of the exercise, the party is finalising the list of 72 district presidents across the State, and in a departure from past practices, the campaign will also include appointments at the taluka level, covering 675 talukas. Selecting taluka level president is an initiative of State unit chief Harshwardhan Sapkal.

Under the new model, taluka Congress presidents will be appointed along with heads of ten frontal organisations and departments at each taluka, including Youth Congress, NSUI, Mahila Congress and Seva Dal, as well as representatives from OBC, SC, ST, VJNT, minority and social media wings.

State observers have been tasked with recommending at least three names for each post, with the final decision to be taken by the party leadership. The initiative is expected to provide organisational responsibilities to more than 7,000 party workers, widening the leadership base within the party.

“The exercise will prioritise youth leadership and aim to enhance representation of OBCs, Dalits, Adivasis, minorities and women in the organisational structure. Congress will work on two principles for next few years. One is building organization on basis of ideology and fighting for people’s problems due to failures of the Union and Maharashtra governments,” Mr. Sapkal said. It will also strengthen the party for the 2029 (assembly and Lok Sabha) polls, he added.

Presidents of 45 of 60 organisational districts of the party in the State are set to be replaced, while chiefs of 12 newly created organisational districts will be appointed.

The party has set a target to appoint around 8,000 new office bearers, including district and taluka presidents, within the next two months, Mr. Sapkal said.

“The Congress is currently implementing the ‘Sangathan Srujan’ (organizational restructuring) programme in Maharashtra. For this, one observer from Delhi has been sent to each district. These observers will submit panels of names for the new presidents to the central leadership, which will then finalise the appointments,” he said.

All those who have served as district presidents for five years or more will be replaced with new faces.

“There is no opposition to making new appointments. Leaders who have held the post for many years are themselves insisting that new faces should be given a chance. The objective is not to remove existing district presidents, but to provide opportunities to new leadership,” Mr. Sapkal said.