Bhubaneswar, Sept 27: Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi today rejected the Congress's allegations surrounding the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, asserting that the exercise is being carried out through digital processes and door-to-door verification to ensure the accuracy of voter lists.

Majhi accused the Congress of attempting to discredit the Election Commission for political interests.

The remarks come amid continuing political debate over electoral-roll revision, with the ECI maintaining that the exercise is aimed at improving the accuracy and integrity of electoral rolls.

Responding to concerns over the deletion of a large number of names during the revision, the Chief Minister said such deletions were part of the verification process.

The Election Commission of India (ECI) described SIR as an exercise intended to ensure that eligible citizens are not left out of the electoral rolls while ineligible names are not included.

The Chief Minister also rejected Congress allegations that Form-6, used for registering new voters, had been altered.

Majhi said the original Form-6 remains unchanged, while an additional declaration related to SIR has been attached separately. The process for registering new voters through Form-6 continues.

In Odisha, around 20.13 lakh names were initially excluded from the draft electoral roll during the SIR exercise.

Election officials said the list included voters who were deceased, had shifted, were untraceable or were registered at more than one location. Genuine voters whose names were missing were provided an opportunity to file claims and objections.

Majhi further said the Chief Election Commissioner had not taken any unilateral decision against the Chief Electoral Officer of any state and maintained that the revision process was being carried out with the cooperation of stakeholders.

Taking a sharp political swipe at the Congress, the Chief Minister accused the party of unnecessarily politicising SIR and attempting to create confusion. He also said the Congress would not return to power.