The Congress Working Committee (CWC) on Tuesday (September 29, 2026) passed a resolution urging the removal of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar, immediate suspension of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, the restoration of the over 13 crore voters deleted from the rolls following the SIR and the resignation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi for “vote theft”.

The Opposition party made the demand after a two-and-a-half hour meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) chaired by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and attended by the likes of former party chiefs Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, and general secretaries Jairam Ramesh, K.C. Venugopal, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, among others. The CWC met to discuss the party’s roadmap amid the row over dissent with the Election Commission of India (ECI).

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“The CWC recognises that what was once Rahul Gandhi’s solitary conviction has become a nationwide demand for accountability, transparency, and the restoration of the sanctity of India’s electoral system,” the CWC said in a statement, listing its demands.

The CWC demanded the resignation of CEC Gyanesh Kumar, who, it said, “has forfeited all moral and institutional authority”. It also said that the SIR process should be suspended “in view of serious concerns regarding the integrity and transparency of the electoral rolls being prepared through the SIR, as well as the constitutional validity of the SIR process itself”.

The CWC, in its resolution, also demanded “the immediate restoration of the 13 crore 30 lakh names removed from the electoral rolls”. It also demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah step down, alleging that the “vote theft” has been carried out on their behalf.

“The Congress party will resist it in Parliament, in the courts and on the streets, until the guilty are punished, every citizen’s vote is secure and the ECI is restored as an independent constitutional authority,” the CWC said.

Rahul Gandhi consistently raised this issue: K.C. Venugopal

Congress leader K.C. Venugopal, addressing a press conference after the CWC meeting, said that the CWC congratulated Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi for taking up the “vote theft” issue.

“The entire Working Committee congratulated Rahul Gandhi for taking up one of the biggest issues facing Indian democracy through the Vote Chori campaign,” Mr. Venugopal said. “For the last 18 months, he has consistently raised this issue and presented evidence showing that the CEC is compromised, the election system is rigged, and the system is designed to benefit the BJP,” he said.

PM Modi, CEC must resign: Kharge

Addressing the meeting, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge called for the immediate removal of CEC Gyanesh Kumar’s removal and Mr. Modi's resignation on moral grounds for "pressuring" the poll panel chief.

Mr. Kharge also warned of protests by his party and said that the issue will be raised in Parliament.

Mr. Kharge put forth five major demands at the CWC: that all data on changes in the electoral rolls be made public; that all voters whose names have been deleted get a chance to appeal; and that all political parties be given electoral rolls in a simple format, in time.

He also demanded an independent, time-bound probe wherever serious anomalies are found, and said the poll process should be made transparent so that no one feels information is being hidden.

"The two Election Commissioners have themselves termed the CEC's actions as 'arbitrary and unreasonable', and the entire nation now knows that he has been trying to help the ruling party. In such a situation, he does not have the right to be in his position and should be removed immediately," Mr. Kharge said.

"Together with this, the Prime Minister should also resign on moral grounds for 'pressuring' the CEC," the Congress chief said in his inaugural address at the CWC.

"We should take a pledge at this CWC meeting that there should be transparency in the electoral rolls and that the poll process should be impartial. Institutions should be independent, and the vote of every Indian should be protected," he said.

This, he said, is the core of the Constitution and the soul of Indian democracy, and the Congress party would not be left behind in fulfilling this responsibility; it would take to the streets and raise these issues in Parliament.

He also thanked Congress workers and leaders for standing behind Rahul Gandhi, who raised the alleged irregularities and highlighted the role of the CEC in "supporting" the BJP.

(With PTI inputs)