SIR row: Congress says 13 crore voter names deleted

Bengaluru: AICC General Secretary and Karnataka Congress In-Charge Randeep Singh Surjewala on Thursday accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of “hijacking” the Election Commission of India (ECI), alleging that 13 crore voter names had been deleted from electoral rolls across 19 states through the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise.

Demanding an immediate halt to the SIR process, Surjewala also called for the removal of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar and sought an independent investigation into the functioning of the poll panel.

Surjewala said the right to vote was the foundation of democracy and alleged that removing eligible citizens from electoral rolls amounted to depriving them of their democratic rights.

“The Election Commission of India has been hijacked. The voter list has been taken over, and the CEC is involved,” he alleged.

He claimed that since June 2025, the ECI had undertaken SIR in 19 states and that around 13 crore names had been removed from electoral rolls, including 1.43 crore names in Karnataka. He described the scale of the exercise as unprecedented and alleged that it was being used to target eligible voters.

The Congress leader further alleged that the three-member Election Commission had effectively been centralised under CEC Gyanesh Kumar, despite objections reportedly raised by the other two Election Commissioners, Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi.

Reports have said the two Commissioners recorded objections on several occasions regarding decisions and communications linked to the SIR process. The ECI has disputed the characterisation of an internal split and said the Commission’s decisions were unanimous.

Surjewala also alleged that control over electoral-roll databases had been centralised, limiting the role of Electoral Registration Officers (EROs), District Election Officers (DEOs) and Chief Electoral Officers (CEOs).

He criticised alleged changes to Form 6, used for registering new voters, claiming that additional requirements had been imposed on first-time voters. He said such changes could create obstacles for young voters, including members of Generation Z, trying to register.

Referring to West Bengal, Surjewala alleged that 16 lakh appeals had been filed against voters already included in the electoral rolls. The Election Commission has told the Supreme Court that 38.31 lakh appeals were filed in West Bengal, including 22.21 lakh seeking inclusion and 16.10 lakh seeking deletions.

Surjewala demanded that the SIR process be immediately stopped, particularly in Karnataka, and sought a comprehensive review of voter deletions since June 2025. He also called for restoration of the statutory powers of EROs, DEOs and CEOs and demanded an independent IT and cyber-forensic audit of the electoral-roll databases and systems.

He demanded the removal of CEC Gyanesh Kumar and criminal action if any violations were established. He also called for a special session of Parliament to discuss the functioning of the ECI and the SIR exercise.

Surjewala further demanded that the possibility of holding fresh elections in Bihar and West Bengal be examined, arguing that electoral mandates should be based on complete and legally valid voter lists.

“Voting rights are the foundation of democracy. When voter lists are misused, democracy itself is misused,” Surjewala said, reiterating the Congress’s demand for greater scrutiny of the electoral-roll revision process.

IANS