Over a month ago, an editorial column in this newspaper drew attention to the inhuman consequences of the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. It raised fundamental questions about citizenship, documentation and disenfranchisement. I want to share my own concern with a true story.
My mother, now almost 93, couldn’t vote in the 2023 Karnataka Assembly elections. Her name had simply disappeared from the electoral rolls. Thankfully, she is still very much with us, so it could not have been because of her supposed demise. Nor had she changed her residence or otherwise become ineligible. She had been a registered voter for decades.
When she questioned her local boothlevel officer (BLO), as well as political workers from both the BJP and Congress who came canvassing at her home, they assured her that her name would be restored. Nothing happened. When the 2024 general elections came around, she still couldn’t vote. No campaigners visited her this time. She didn’t exist as far as they were concerned.
She never discovered who had authorised her deletion, nor could her voting rights be restored despite our efforts. At her age, running about from the proverbial pillar to post is out of the question. A patriotic lady and conscientious citizen who had dutifully, almost religiously, exercised her franchise since the very first election after independence, had suddenly disappeared from the ballot.
To be sure, this happened much before the present controversy over SIR, which is precisely why I highlight it.
For what is at stake is considerably larger than the current political slugfest over “vote chori”. It is not merely whether Rahul Gandhi can substantiate his allegations, whether the BJP can refute them or whether Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar should resign.
The issue is nothing less than the future of electoral democracy in the world’s largest republic.
Unfortunately, the feeding frenzy of partisan accusations and counter-accusations threaten to obscure the fundamental problem. Governments come and go. Political parties win and lose. But the legitimacy of the electoral process must outlast them all. Let us be clear. The Election Commission of India (ECI) has a constitutional responsibility to maintain accurate electoral rolls.
Names of deceased persons, duplicate entries and those who have permanently shifted residence must be amended according to law. Nobody can reasonably object to the legitimate cleanup of electoral rolls. But by September 2026, approximately 13 crore names have reportedly been omitted during the SIR. Nobody in their right minds would take this to mean that all these deletions were illegitimate. Some omissions were undoubtedly justified; others may be corrected during subsequent verification and enrolment. Nevertheless, even a small percentage of wrongful exclusions would represent an enormous injustice.
If merely one percent were erroneous, over 13 lakh people would be affected. In fact, even a single voter wrongly deleted indicates a failure of the system. Moreover, what about elections already bygone? Once an election is over, an administrative correction cannot restore the opportunity to vote. My mother’s not voting in 2023 and 2024 cannot be remedied retrospectively. Her franchise, for those elections, is gone forever. She may never be able to vote again. And I may find myself hard put in filling out a Form 6 myself if required. These problems did not begin with the current SIR.
Karnataka itself witnessed controversies concerning electoral data and deletion applications in 2022-23. The ‘Chilume voter data fraud’ case raised serious concerns about the integrity of electoralroll management. Let us also not forget that this happened during the Basavaraj Bommai-led BJP government in Karnataka. Digitisation of voter lists has added another dimension to the problem.
Electronic databases have undoubtedly made electoral administration more efficient. But, apparently, once an electoral registration officer (ERO) deletes a name in the system, rollback becomes very difficult. Why? Because of the protocols of the untrackable or once-only-trackable backend system called ERONet/ECINet. But can the citizen’s right to vote be held hostage to software, administrative inconvenience or bureaucratic mismanagement? No. Moreover, the problem is that the fog of obfuscation and political skullduggery over this issue often makes us forget the basic issue at hand.
Surely, the constitutional principle of universal adult suffrage, embodied in Article 326, is fundamental to the Republic. The electoral roll is merely the administrative instrument through which eligible citizens exercise their franchise. That instrument must serve the right, not supersede it. What use is an appeal mechanism to a 93-year-old woman who cannot easily visit government offices? What happens, at the other end of the voting spectrum, to a poor labourer who must lose several days’ wages chasing an official? This is not an argument against SIR; it is an argument for making electoral-roll revision transparent, accurate, inclusive and accountable.
Furthermore, it is an appeal to those in power and those in the opposition to cooperate to ensure that this happens. The ruling party should not dismiss legitimate scrutiny as partisan hostility. The opposition must substantiate its allegations rather than treat every irregularity as proof of conspiracy. As for the ECI, the proverbial saying about Caesar’s wife comes to mind: the EC must be above suspicion. It must not only be impartial but appear impartial. Public confidence cannot be commanded by invoking constitutional authority.
Yet the greatest responsibility belongs to us, the voting public. Politicians, regardless of their stripe, have a tendency to cling to power whether by hook or crook. But we, as ordinary citizens, cannot remain idle spectators while politicians battle it out. We must demand that every eligible citizen be counted, that every deletion be accountable, and that every wrongful exclusion be corrected. For my mother, unfortunately, the remedy may come too late. As her son, I could not secure the restoration of her vote in two elections. Perhaps, by writing about her experience, I can at least draw attention to a failure that should concern every Indian. If her story helps prevent even one other citizen from suffering the same injustice, I will not have written it in vain.
(Views are personal)
Read all columns by Makarand R Paranjape
(On X @MakrandParanspe)