P Chidambaram Questions ECI Over Form 6 Re-Enrolment During West Bengal SIR
Chidambaram questioned ECI over voter re-enrolment and SIR procedures.
Senior Congress leader and former Union minister P Chidambaram on Saturday questioned the Election Commission of India’s handling of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in West Bengal, particularly the process for voters whose names were excluded. He asked why the poll panel did not inform the Supreme Court during the hearing of the West Bengal SIR case that excluded voters could seek re-enrolment by submitting Form 6.
Chidambaram, in a post on X, alleged that lakhs of voters had been excluded from the electoral rolls without due process. He pointed out that the Supreme Court subsequently ordered the establishment of tribunals to hear appeals against the exclusions, leading to a large number of cases being filed. According to Chidambaram, the tribunals worked for about six months to examine the appeals.
The Congress leader claimed that around 1.26 lakh appeals were disposed of by the tribunals, with between 91 and 93 per cent of them being allowed, resulting in the restoration of voters’ names to the electoral rolls. He questioned whether the tribunal process and the resources devoted to it could have been avoided if voters left out during the revision could simply have re-enrolled through Form 6.
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Chidambaram also raised questions over the financial implications of the electoral-roll revision exercise. Referring to the large number of names involved, he alleged that crores of rupees had been spent on the process and argued that additional public money could now be required for re-enrolling voters who were left out. “Who is responsible?” he asked while questioning the rationale behind the process.
His remarks came amid a wider opposition campaign against the Election Commission and its handling of electoral-roll revisions. Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi has also criticised Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and called for his resignation. Opposition parties, student groups and civil society organisations have held demonstrations in Delhi and Mumbai, demanding greater transparency in the electoral-roll revision process.
The controversy has also followed reports that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had raised objections on several occasions over decisions and procedures linked to the SIR exercise and other electoral matters. The Election Commission has rejected suggestions that these objections represented institutional dissent, saying operational queries and inputs during the draft stage were part of its normal decision-making process. The ECI has also maintained that decisions concerning the SIR schedule were taken unanimously.
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