Hyderabad (Telangana) [India], November 23 : BJP leader Marri Shashidhar Reddy on Sunday claimed that people had rejected Congress MP Rahul Gandhi's "vote chori" campaign, and it is unfortunate to "cast aspersions" on the country's institutions, including the Election Commission hours after Rahu Gandhi termed the special intensive revision of electoral rolls as "a conspiracy" to "protect those in power".
The SIR is underway in nine States and three Union Territories. The first phase of SIR was held in Bihar ahead of the State's assembly elections.
Shashidhar told ANI, "...The kind of hype they've tried to create over Special Intensive Revision of (electoral rolls) in Bihar in the name of 'vote chori ' has fallen flat. The people have rejected it... During the elections (in Bihar), and then there was no protest from anyone whose names had been illegally deleted after the SIR was conducted."
The BJP leader noted that such comments were "unbecoming" of a person who is the leader of the opposition in the "biggest democracy" in India and advised him to avoid making such statements to "hide his party's failures".
"He (Rahul Gandhi) wants a scapegoat, wants to find fault, and this kind of casting aspersions on the institutions of the country, including the Election Commission of India, is most unfortunate and is not expected from a person who is the leader of the opposition of the biggest democracy in India... Rahul Gandhi should refrain from making such statements to cover up the party's failures..."

Rahul Gandhi said on Sunday that "chaos" has been unleashed across the country in the garb of the SIR and alleged that 16 Booth Level Officers have died due to stress.
"Under the guise of SIR, chaos has been unleashed across the country - the result? In three weeks, 16 BLOs have lost their lives. Heart attacks, stress, suicides - SIR is no reform, it's an imposed tyranny," Rahul Gandhi alleged in a post on X in Hindi.
"SIR is a calculated ploy - where citizens are being harassed and the deaths of BLOs from unnecessary pressure are dismissed as "collateral damage." This is not a failure, it's a conspiracy - a sacrifice of democracy to protect those in power," the Congress MP alleged.
According to the media report shared by Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, 16 BLOs have died in six states, including four each in Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh, three in West Bengal, two in Rajasthan, and one each in Tamil Nadu and Kerala.
After the death of the BLO in West Bengal sparked a political row, Governor CV Ananda Bose on Sunday said that the death of BLO Shanti Muni Ekka, who allegedly took her own life due to "unbearable pressure" from the SIR of electoral rolls work, will be examined in detail.
"In such a situation, it is better to avoid a knee-jerk reaction. What the Chief Minister said has to be examined in detail. I am sure we have an Election Commission which is strong enough and has a balanced outlook. All these issues can be examined properly and appropriate solutions found, but what is required is free and fair elections in this country," the Governor said.
The final elector's list is to be published on February 7, 2026.
These states and UTs include Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Kerala, Lakshadweep, Madhya Pradesh, Puducherry, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.