Bengaluru, Sept. 24 -- Congress MP Randeep Singh Surjewala on Thursday accused the Election Commission of India (ECI) of being "hijacked" and demanded an immediate halt to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, along with the removal and criminal investigation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.

Speaking to reporters here, Surjewala alleged that the SIR exercise had resulted in the deletion of 13 crore voters across 19 states and claimed that Karnataka alone had seen 1.08 crore deletions, with another 43 lakh notices issued. These figures were presented by Surjewala as part of the Congress's allegations; the Election Commission has disputed the broader characterisation of its functioning and said its decisions...