Opposition unites on SIR: Congress, AAP, TMC find common ground on voter list concerns

After the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Opposition alliance partners had almost gone their separate ways, focusing on state-level issues, with the Congress also launching its attacks on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) without coordinating with other alliance partners. However, the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the voter list—seen by the opposition as flawed—has brought the INDIA bloc back on common ground.

Particularly, the Congress, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), and Trinamool Congress (TMC) came together to raise a common voice. The three parties, which had drifted apart after the Lok Sabha elections, are now back on a common platform, which leaders say is issue-based, raising concerns over the implementation of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in several states.

"We have clarified repeatedly that the AAP is not a part of the INDIA bloc, and our position remains the same," AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh said in a recent interview to a media organisation. He added, "We only offered support to the opposition over the SIR, which is an attempt to kill democracy in India."

The party had refused to stitch up an alliance with the Congress for the Delhi Assembly elections five months ago, despite being part of the same umbrella alliance of INDIA. Both parties fought a bitter battle against each other, with the Congress's strong campaign seen as an effort to counter the AAP's influence.

Moreover, the Trinamool Congress (TMC), which also gave the cold shoulder to the grand old party during the recent Lok Sabha elections despite being an important part of the alliance, and contested the elections separately, has also returned to voice concerns over SIR and engage with the Congress.

After Parliament prevented Opposition leaders from speaking on SIR, TMC's Rajya Sabha leader Derek O'Brien said that the SIR, which he termed "vote chori" (voter theft), as a subject, could easily be discussed in both houses. He added, "The BJP is scared. We will give the shaky Modi-led coalition a tutorial in Parliament and teach them how it can be discussed."

Delhi Congress working president Anil Chaudhary said, “We have received several complaints that names of genuine voters, especially minorities and slum dwellers, have been struck off arbitrarily. This is not a cleanup—it is a targeted deletion.”

Echoing similar concerns, senior AAP leader Atishi called for an independent audit of the revision process. “This is not an administrative exercise anymore. It’s becoming a political weapon. Booth Level Officers (BLOs) are reportedly under pressure to meet arbitrary deletion targets,” she alleged.

As the assembly elections in states like West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Assam are due next year, the opposition sees the SIR as a tool to bend the playing field in the ruling party's favour. However, the ECI has maintained its stance that the SIR is being carried out in accordance with the Representation of the People Act and under proper supervision of election officials. Yet, as the Bihar election is still months away and SIR is underway there, the timing and intensity of the exercise have added to political tension.

Interestingly, political analysts see this coordinated response as a significant thaw in the frosty ties among opposition parties after the near collapse of the INDIA bloc.

Though political and ideological differences remain, the SIR episode has provided the opposition camp with a shared cause. Whether this unity survives or fades remains to be seen. But for now, the common stand on electoral rolls may well be a step forward towards recalibrated opposition politics in the post-2024 landscape.