The Election Commission of India (ECI) has withdrawn the additional Special Intensive Revision (SIR) declaration attached to the online Form 6 application in states and Union territories where the electoral roll revision exercise has been completed.
The ECI, meanwhile, maintained that the declaration was introduced as part of the SIR process and said the requirement had been upheld by the Supreme Court. The additional declaration had become a contentious issue within the poll panel. The party also called for Prime Minister Narendra Modi ’s resignation over the exercise. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge demanded that the Election Commission make public complete data on major changes to electoral rolls. He also sought independent, time-bound inquiries wherever there is evidence of serious discrepancies. The Congress has demanded that voters whose names were removed be informed and given a chance to appeal. It also called for electoral rolls and relevant data to be shared with political parties in a simple format and within a reasonable timeframe.
Election Commissioners Vivek Joshi and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu had raised objections to changes concerning Form 6, according to a report by the Indian Express. On September 26, the Commission clarified that the additional declaration would apply during SIR, while the statutory forms under the 1960 rules would be used during non-SIR periods. The Congress Working Committee (CWC) has demanded a halt to the SIR of electoral rolls and sought the restoration of 130 million names that it says were deleted from the rolls.
Congress general secretary KC Venugopal said the party would launch peaceful protests across states and districts, in coordination with INDIA bloc parties.
Congress earlier criticised the additional declaration attached to Form 6 during SIR.
The declaration sought details on whether the applicant, their parents or grandparents appeared in an earlier electoral roll.
