The Sampadak Express News Desk
The Congress on Sunday demanded the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and the immediate suspension of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, alleging the Election Commission of India’s (ECI) move to share “readable” voter lists with political parties followed nationwide protests over alleged “vote chori”.
Congress general secretary (communications) Jairam Ramesh said the party, along with Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, had urged the ECI for the past two years to provide electoral rolls in a searchable format to all political parties. He alleged the demand had been repeatedly refused and that the ECI stopped supplying searchable rolls in 2018 after the Congress identified “lakhs of bogus voters” in Madhya Pradesh.
Ramesh said the ECI issued an order on October 15, 2026, to provide electoral rolls in a searchable format to political parties for the ongoing Special Summary Revision (SSR), which has resumed after a two-year gap in 17 States and Union Territories. He claimed the decision followed public pressure, writing on X that “the whole nation is on the streets against the Vote Chors.”
Escalating the attack, Ramesh alleged that Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, “acting on the instructions” of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, had eroded public trust in the Commission. “Nothing can save the CEC. He simply has to go,” he wrote, adding that the ECI and its IT systems needed a complete overhaul.
Ramesh also demanded that the SIR be halted “forthwith,” claiming it had endangered the constitutional right to vote of more than 13 crore Indians. His allegations and demands were made in a series of posts on X. The Hindu reported the details of the ECI’s October 15 order and the status of ongoing revision exercises.
The ECI has ordered the annual SSR of electoral rolls in 17 States and Union Territories, including those expected to hold Assembly elections early next year, with final rolls scheduled for publication on January 4. A senior ECI functionary said the SSR is an annual exercise mandated under election law and is conducted with special focus in poll-bound States.
According to the report, the SIR of electoral rolls has already been completed in the 17 States and Union Territories undertaking revisions, while Assam carried out a special revision instead of the SIR due to legal reasons.
For the first time, political parties will receive “readable” electoral rolls in both hard and soft copies at the draft and final stages. Candidates in poll-bound States will also be given the draft and final rolls, and the documents will be available for purchase from Electoral Registration Officers ahead of the elections.
The ECI has said the final electoral rolls in the States and Union Territories covered by the current revision will be published on January 4.
