SIR protest heats up Himachal politics as Congress targets EC, BJP raises questions over public property
Shimla, September 25, 2026: Political tensions over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls intensified in Himachal Pradesh on Friday as the Congress staged a major protest outside the Election Department office at Kasumpti, while the BJP demanded an independent investigation into allegations of damage to government property and alleged confrontation with police.
The Congress protest was led by HPCC president Vinay Kumar and Himachal Congress in-charge Rajni Patil, with Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri among the senior leaders addressing the gathering.
The party targeted the functioning of the Election Commission of India and raised slogans against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, demanding his removal.
Congress leaders alleged that the SIR exercise had resulted in a large-scale deletion of voters from electoral rolls, putting the figure at around 15 crore. HPCC president Vinay Kumar had separately alleged that nearly 13 crore voters had been deprived of their franchise through the revision exercise. These figures are political claims and have not been independently established in the material reviewed for this report.
The Election Commission, meanwhile, has described SIR as an electoral-roll revision exercise and its official portal provides voters with facilities to search their names in the electoral roll and check SIR-related records.
The Commission's published material also provides for lists of electors whose names are not included in draft rolls, along with probable reasons such as absent, shifted, deceased or duplicate status.
Addressing Congress workers, Agnihotri described the issue as a major political and democratic question and urged people to raise their voice over the electoral-roll controversy.
He also referred to objections being raised by BJP leaders on the voter-list issue, arguing that the controversy could not simply be dismissed as a Congress concern.
The protest, however, moved beyond the electoral-roll debate and triggered a second political confrontation.
Reports from the protest said Congress workers wrote “Vote Chor” on walls outside the Election Department premises and burnt an effigy of CEC Gyanesh Kumar.
BJP leaders Jai Ram Thakur and Sudhir Sharma have now sought scrutiny of the conduct of the protesters. Sharma alleged that Congress workers manhandled police personnel, damaged a government vehicle and threatened to set the government office on fire.
These allegations require verification through CCTV footage, video recordings, police records and eyewitness accounts before responsibility can be established.
Sharma said the right to protest cannot extend to damaging public property or obstructing public servants. He demanded that the administration preserve CCTV footage, identify those involved and register cases wherever an investigation establishes cognisable offences.
The BJP leader also questioned what he described as the absence of prompt police action against Congress workers.
He compared the situation with the recent registration of a case against BJP MLA Ashish Sharma and argued that the same legal standard should apply irrespective of political affiliation.
With Himachal Pradesh heading towards its next Assembly election , the confrontation has added a new electoral dimension to the state's politics.
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