The Election Commission on Wednesday said its decisions on the nationwide Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls were unanimous, amid reports that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had repeatedly raised concerns over voter deletions and the handling of electoral data.
“All decisions of the Election Commission of India, including SIR, have been unanimous and with the approval of both the Election Commissioners and the Chief Election Commissioner,” officials said.
The clarification came after news reports alleged Sandhu and Joshi had formally objected at least 14 times over the past 10 months to decisions and orders issued by the poll panel.
According to the report, their concerns included deletion and restoration of voters' names, addition of new electors, appeals against electoral-roll decisions and the management of the voter database.
The two commissioners had also flagged issues relating to changes in Form 6, used for voter registration, and questioned aspects of the centralisation of electoral-roll data, the report said.
In one instance concerning appeals against orders restoring voters in West Bengal, Sandhu reportedly questioned the authority under which the appeals were filed, asking who had authorised them and on whose behalf they were submitted.
EC officials acknowledged that the two commissioners had raised issues concerning deletion of names in different states during the electoral-roll cleanup and the handling of voter data. However, they stressed that such concerns did not alter the Commission's final decisions.
Officials cited the law governing the Election Commission and a Supreme Court judgment to underline that the poll panel should seek unanimity as far as possible, with a majority view prevailing when consensus cannot be reached.
The SIR exercise, which began in Bihar in 2025, has since been expanded to other states and Union Territories. The exercise has drawn sharp criticism from opposition parties, which have alleged that it could lead to the exclusion of genuine voters.
The Election Commission has maintained that the revision is aimed at updating electoral rolls and removing ineligible or duplicate entries.
(With inputs from PTI)