NEW DELHI: The Election Commission of India (ECI) has rejected Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi’s claim that Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar “changed Form 6 illegally and unilaterally”, terming the assertion misleading.
Gandhi, in a post on X, alleged that Kumar had altered Form 6 to favour the BJP and accused him of “abusing his position”. He said those involved in what he described as a “criminal assault on our democracy” would be held accountable.
Gandhi’s post also reproduced the ECI’s September 26, 2026 press note, highlighting its clarification on the declaration attached to Form 6 during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise.
Countering the claim, the ECI said the order for the Bihar SIR issued on June 24, 2025, was approved unanimously by the Commission. It further pointed out that the exercise had been upheld by the Supreme Court in its May 27, 2026 judgment.
The poll panel also referred to its Press Note No. 120 dated September 26, 2026, which stated that the declaration attached to Form 6 for SIR had been upheld by the Supreme Court. “For periods outside the SIR exercise, the forms prescribed under the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, would continue to apply,” it had said.
Separately, the ECI also dismissed claims circulating on social media that it had removed the September 26 press note from its official website. The Commission said the document “is available on the ECI website and was never taken down”, adding that the X post containing the press note also remained available.
Sources in the Commission said Form 6 itself had not been changed. According to them, the declaration attached to the form for the SIR exercise was an “additional document” forming part of the process. They also pointed to the Supreme Court’s earlier ruling upholding the Bihar SIR, in which the declaration was part of the exercise.
The clarification came after the Supreme Court observed on Monday that it had not approved any modified version of Form 6. The court was hearing pleas seeking the suspension of CEC Gyanesh Kumar and challenging decisions allegedly taken by the ECI without the approval of its two other members.
In its May 27, 2026 judgment, the Supreme Court had unanimously upheld the Bihar SIR exercise, holding that adopting a procedure different from routine electoral-roll revisions did not, by itself, make the exercise unconstitutional.
The latest exchange between the ECI and Gandhi centres on whether the additional declaration used during the Bihar SIR amounted to an alteration of Form 6, with the Commission maintaining that the statutory form itself remained unchanged.
