Bhubaneswar: Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Sunday accused the Congress of trying to defame the Election Commission over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and alleged that the opposition party was politicising the exercise for its own interests.
Speaking to reporters, Majhi said the Election Commission was conducting the special revision after a long gap and that the exercise was being carried out through both digital means and door-to-door verification.
“The Opposition has also accused the Election Commission of India (ECI) of centralising voter-list data. I want to clarify that the voter-list system in the state, operated by the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) and Electoral Registration Officers (EROs), has always been completely decentralised and continues to remain so,” he said.
Majhi said the legal and procedural powers of EROs had not been changed in any manner and that only the process had been digitised.
“The process has been digitised and the ECI-Net and ERO-Net modules have been established for this purpose,” he said.
The chief minister also rejected allegations raised by the Congress regarding Form 6, which is used for the enrolment of new voters.
“New voters have not faced any issues and there have been no complaints regarding this,” Majhi said.
Referring to the enrolment of young voters, he said 2.37 crore new voters had been added to the electoral rolls since June 24, 2025, when the SIR process began.
“These young voters are often referred to as ‘Gen Z’. Around 50,000 ‘Gen Z’ voters are being added every month. There are 17.38 crore voters in the 18-to-28 age group, and the enrolment process is continuing,” he said.
Majhi also rejected an allegation that the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) was taking decisions without consulting the other Election Commissioners.
“The allegation that the CEC is ignoring the other Election Commissioners and taking decisions unilaterally is completely baseless. I strongly reject it. It is misleading and politically motivated,” he said.
The chief minister said decisions within the poll body were taken unanimously by the CEC and the Election Commissioners.
“Both the CEC and the Election Commissioners take decisions unanimously, and the CEC has already made this clear,” Majhi said.
He accused the Congress of unnecessarily creating an issue over the SIR exercise and alleged that the party was attempting to create an atmosphere of anarchy in the country.
Majhi termed the allegations made by the Congress baseless and said the opposition party was making such claims as it was not receiving public support in any state.
