New Delhi: Terming the Election Commission’s ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls a method of “vote chori”, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has said Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar “will go” but the system that pushed him into this will also have to answer.
The Lok Sabha Opposition leader shared his comments in a post on social media, accompanied by a video of his visit to a jhuggi settlement in Bela Estate along the Yamuna river in the national capital on Monday evening.
In the footage, Gandhi can be heard talking to the sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) about the deletion of voter names in the locality, pressing the official to disclose his name and designation and warning that he would deal with him “in another way”.
727 Of 728 Names Deleted After SIR
In the Hindi caption attached to the clip, Gandhi stated that Bela Estate, situated along the Yamuna, is home to 728 people, yet following the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, only a single name survives on the voter list, with 727 others removed.
“These people have been living here for decades. They have already voted in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and the 2025 Delhi elections.
“In 2023, their homes were demolished but they didn’t go anywhere; they’re still right here. Today, I went to their jhuggi and heard directly from them what the Election Commission has done to them,” the former Congress chief said.
‘House 0’ For Homeless, Yet 727 Deleted: Rahul
“On the phone with the SDM, I said exactly this — having a house or not has no connection to the right to vote,” he said.
CEC Kumar himself has said that “House Number 0” is for the homeless, and yet, 727 people’s names have been struck off, Gandhi said.
“This isn’t SIR; this is a method of vote chori. From those who already have the least, their only power is being snatched away. Gyanesh Kumar will go. But the system that made him do this will also have to answer,” Gandhi said.
Earlier, stepping up its offensive against Kumar, the Congress declared that the first milestone on the long path to reclaiming the nation’s democracy is the CEC’s resignation, branding him a “front” for the “diabolical PM-HM duo” and an “affront” to the Constitution.
On Saturday, the Election Commission countered that every SIR order was passed with the unanimous backing of all three commissioners and that modifications to Form 6 for voter enrolment had received Supreme Court approval, as it moved to quell a fierce dispute over internal decision-making at the poll body and allegations of voter exclusion.
In its first meeting after reports of friction between the CEC and the two election commissioners emerged, the panel stated that the letters dispatched by Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi to the Cabinet Secretary concerned an officer on deputation, not policy or IT division matters.
The Indian Express has reported that Sandhu and Joshi lodged on-record objections at least 14 times over the last 10 months against SIR-related decisions and orders they said were issued without their knowledge or recommendation.