With the Election Commission issuing a statement Saturday seeking to address several concerns raised by the two poll panel commissioners — Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi — the BJP lashed out at Congress for what it termed as “baseless allegations” against the EC and said that LoP Rahul Gandhi “should explain why he told this lie”.The EC held its first meeting Saturday since The Indian Express reported that Sandhu and Joshi had objected on record at least 14 times in 10 months to SIR-related decisions taken without their knowledge and to glaring gaps in processes.Welcoming the statement, former Union Minister and BJP MP Ravi Shankar Prasad questioned the Opposition’s narrative despite the fact that the SIR has been held valid by the Supreme Court. “Who had gone to the Supreme Court regarding the SIR process? Congress, CPM and TMC had filed dozens of cases. After hearing all of them, the Supreme Court called the SIR ok,” he said.Also Read | Wishy-washy statement, Election Commission in damage-control mode, says Congress“We condemn the baseless and unfortunate allegations that Opposition parties, especially Congress, and especially Rahul Gandhi are levelling against the Election Commission. They even went to the extent of saying they should be arrested, there should be an FIR.”“ Today, the Election Commission has duly issued a press note…It says that all the decisions regarding the SIR were taken with the concurrence of the CEC (Gyanesh Kumar) and the two Election Commissioners. Secondly, on 24.06.25, it (the SIR) began in all states and UTs — first Bihar, then West Bengal, the process has taken place in 30 other states. The Election Commission has specially mentioned… that on May 27 2026, Supreme Court held all matters related to the SIR valid and deeply permissible,” he said.“Rahul Gandhi should explain why he told this lie. The Election Commission has today made the facts absolutely clear. The CEC and both Election Commissioners were present, and this decision was taken in their presence,” he said.Also Read | Election Commission’s nine new decisions: What changes and what doesn’t“BJP would once again like to tell the Opposition to go among the people, work hard and win elections. BJP is not present in Kerala, where Congress won. Elections were also held in Himachal Pradesh and Telangana, and Congress won there as well. When Congress wins, everything is fine, whether it is the EC officials, the voter list or EVMs. But when the Opposition loses, it creates a ruckus,” he said.Story continues below this ad“…Today’s statement makes it clear that even Form 6 has been approved by Supreme Court, despite which there has been so much controversy over it,” he said. “However, this issue is being raised without any reason. This is provided for under the Representation of People Acts, 1950 and 1951. These provisions provide that Election Commission can conduct an SIR. Such revisions have been carried out in the past as well. Under Article 324 of the Constitution, the Election Commission has the sole authority to conduct and complete the entire electoral process from beginning to end.”Also Read | CEC must go, Supreme Court should act, pause SIR: Opposition after Election Commission divide out in openTargeting Gandhi as “a non-serious politician”, Prasad said, “The kind of abusive language used by Rahul Gandhi is highly condemnable. The people don’t take him seriously. Perhaps, for the first time in the history of the country, the EC has had to issue a detailed clarification because of his false propaganda, and the CEC and both Election Commissioners sat together today to take this decision.”“Rahul Gandhi repeatedly gets exposed because whatever issues he raises, he is publicly defeated on all of them. Whether it is the Rafale issue or other matters… people do not take him seriously,” he said, underlining “no one will be deprived of the right to vote”.