Opposition leaders have raised questions about the functioning of the Election Commission of India (ECI) following a report claiming that two of the three Election Commissioners had recorded objections over several decisions related to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
An investigation published on Wednesday reported that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had placed objections on record at least 14 times over a 10-month period. The reported disagreements involved issues such as changes to Form 6, access to the electoral-roll database, voter deletion appeals in West Bengal and difficulties in adding eligible voters in Goa.
The report said one of the concerns related to Form 6, which is used by citizens to apply for inclusion in the electoral roll. Changes to the form reportedly required new applicants to provide information about whether their own name, or that of a parent or grandparent, appeared in an earlier SIR electoral roll.
The reported objections have triggered reactions from several Opposition leaders. Congress leader Manish Tewari referred to the findings and questioned whether decisions within the poll panel were being taken according to established procedures. He also raised concerns about the long-term credibility of the Election Commission.
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut also questioned the reported decision-making process, while AAP leader Saurabh Bharadwaj linked the latest allegations to concerns previously raised by his party regarding electoral rolls.
Another reported issue concerns the centralisation of access to ERONet, the Election Commission's electoral-roll management system. The report said the commissioners had raised concerns about safeguards governing changes to voter records.
West Bengal has also emerged as a key part of the controversy. Questions were reportedly raised over appeals seeking deletion of voter names after scrutiny of electoral records. Separately, 97 voters in Goa were reportedly found eligible by Electoral Registration Officers but could not be added to the final roll because of a software-related issue, according to the investigation.
The Election Commission, however, has rejected suggestions of an internal split over the SIR exercise. EC sources said all decisions taken by the commission, including those connected with SIR, had the approval of all three Election Commissioners.
The controversy comes as SIR continues to face scrutiny in different parts of the country. In West Bengal, the Election Commission has reported a large number of appeals against voter deletions, with the Supreme Court also examining aspects of the process.
The ECI's official West Bengal portal provides voters with access to the SIR final roll, deletion lists, supplementary lists and mechanisms for claims and objections.
The latest developments have therefore brought renewed attention to how electoral-roll revisions are conducted, how objections within the poll panel are handled and what safeguards are available to voters whose names are affected.
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