Union Minister Shobha Karandlaje Accuses Congress of Fueling Unrest for Political Gain

Union Minister of State for Labour and Employment Shobha Karandlaje has accused the Opposition of creating anarchy in the country with the aim of coming to power. Speaking at a press conference in Thiruvananthapuram on Tuesday during her first visit to Keralam after the Assembly elections, she stated that attempts to stir up unrest are happening 80 years after Independence for political motives.

Voter List Revision

The Minister defended the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls, noting it aims to clean up the voter list. She stated that such revisions have happened 12 times in the past, with 10 of those instances occurring during Congress rule and only twice under BJP governance, specifically in 2002 and 2025. She added that the voter list had not been updated for 20 years, during which time crores of people died, migrated for jobs, marriage, and business, or infiltrated the country. According to Election Commission of India figures for the 13 crore names removed, 2.8 crore people had died, 6.3 crore had permanently shifted, three crore were untraceable, and one crore were duplicate entries.

Opposition Criticisms

Addressing claims by Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi that 13 crore names were deleted, Ms. Karandlaje said the Election Commission of India sets the rules and government officials handled the exercise in Kerala. She noted that political parties could appoint booth-level agents to verify voters and file complaints after scrutiny. She also criticized Mr. Gandhi for previously questioning electronic voting machines and now speaking about the ECI abroad, asking what he gains from disparaging India internationally instead of speaking in Parliament. Responding to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge's demand to dissolve the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies over alleged illegal elections, she questioned if the demand aimed to remove V.D. Satheesan and install K.C. Venugopal as Chief Minister.

Context

Electoral roll revisions are routine administrative exercises managed by election authorities to remove names of individuals who have died or relocated, ensuring accuracy during polls. Political friction frequently arises around these verification drives as parties scrutinize voter additions and deletions before major electoral cycles.