In a decisive move following its crippling defeat in the Bihar Assembly elections, the Congress party is holding a crucial meeting on Tuesday to conduct a high-level review of the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls across 12 States and union Territories.

The session, scheduled at Indira Bhawan in New Delhi, is seen as a high-stakes post-mortem and strategy meeting aimed at addressing systemic issues the party believes contributed to its recent electoral failures.

The urgency of the meeting stems directly from the Congress party's dismal performance in the recently concluded Bihar polls. The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) secured a commanding victory with 202 seats, while the Mahagathbandhan, of which Congress was a key part, was relegated to just 35 seats with the Congress winning a meagre six seats.

The scale of the loss prompted strong public reactions from the party's top leadership. Both party leader Rahul Gandhi and party President Mallikarjun Kharge had previously voiced significant concerns over the Election Commission's role in the Bihar poll process, alleging widespread irregularities that they termed "vote chori" (vote theft). The current review of the electoral rolls is therefore directly linked to the party's suspicion that voter list management and accurate enumeration may be a critical weakness to address.

The crucial review meeting has brought together senior functionaries responsible for ground operations, including AICC in-charges, Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) chiefs, Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leaders, and secretaries from the 12 regions involved in the SIR exercise.

The States and UTs whose electoral rolls will be under intense scrutiny are: Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Puducherry, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and Lakshadweep.

The review is expected to focus on the completeness, accuracy, and fairness of the revision process in these regions, with a specific mandate to ensure Congress workers are actively engaged at the booth level to prevent any alleged manipulation.

The meeting's review will be contextualized against the Election Commission’s recent data on the Special Intensive Revision exercise. The Election Commission has reported a high compliance rate, stating that over 95% of the 5.99 crore electors in the nine states and three UTs under the ongoing SIR have successfully received enumeration forms.

The Congress party's internal assessment will likely contrast this official data with feedback from its ground-level organizational structure, attempting to identify discrepancies or potential vulnerabilities within the official revision process. The outcome of today’s meeting is expected to shape the party's strategic approach to poll preparation and electoral integrity monitoring in the coming months.