Independent Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal on Wednesday alleged that the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls being carried out by the Election Commission is an exercise aimed at helping the BJP win elections, and urged the Supreme Court to stop the "bulk deletions" taking place under it.
Sibal's remarks came over a report in The Indian Express which claimed that in Godda district of Jharkhand, BJP agents are seeking to delete voters, mostly from the minority community, with Booth Level Officers (BLOs), who are employees of the state government headed by the JMM-Congress, raising red flags over the issue.
In a post on X, Sibal wrote, "Politics of exclusion. BJP agents: Target Muslims, seek bulk deletions. Supreme Court needs to stop this!" He added, "SIR is an exercise: To manipulate the voters list. Help BJP win elections!"
Later, addressing a press conference, Sibal said that in Jharkhand, there were bulk forms called form 7 being filed by BJP workers. "You can file bulk forms – in the sense you can get 45, take 45 of them, or 100 of them, or even 400 of them. You can file the forms and you can say that this name should be deleted. You don't have to give any reason for it, and if it is found to be false, it doesn't matter," he said.
Referring to the newspaper investigation, Sibal said the names targeted belonged to the Muslim community. "Those people have been interviewed and they have said [they've] been living there for years, their families have been living there for years. So if this is the way things are going to be done, what's the point of having an election?" he asked.
"It has been found that those Muslims whose names were sought to be deleted by bulk forms by BJP workers were actually living there for years, many of them ever since Independence," Sibal added.
Sibal warned of serious consequences if the issue is not addressed. "And therefore this is a very serious issue, and if courts don't take care of this issue, if courts just believe that the SIR exercise is by a neutral Election Commission of India, then I think we are in deep trouble – this democracy will be in deep trouble," he said.
Providing statistics, Sibal said that in Delhi itself, about 45 lakh to 47 lakh names have been deleted, which is almost 23-24 per cent of the entire electorate of Delhi, which is 1.5 crore. In Uttar Pradesh, he said, 2.05 crore names have been cut, and "cores of names" are being cut similarly. "So far about five to six crore names have been cut overall ever since this process of SIR started," he added.
Sibal claimed that the investigation shows these are all motivated bulk forms filed by BJP workers, established both through social media evidence and national newspapers. He noted that in Jharkhand, even the BLO is objecting because the opposition is in power, but asked, "Where they are in power, who will object?" He described the BLO as a government school teacher who "will do what he is told," adding, "if people at high places can be pressured, a school teacher can easily be pressured."
"I wanted to bring this to the notice of this country that it's time that the nation wakes up," Sibal said.
His remarks come a day after Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and former party chief Rahul Gandhi slammed the Election Commission as "BJP Kursi Bachao Aayog" and "Vote Chori Aayog." The Congress leaders alleged that the ruling party's conspiracy to hollow out India's democracy through "vote chori" has come out in the open, and that people will punish them for it.
With more than 2.06 crore electors excluded from Maharashtra's draft electoral rolls after the SIR exercise, Rahul Gandhi alleged that the BJP and the "Vote Chori Aayog" keep changing their tactics and will continue to do so as their goal is to ensure the BJP's victory at any cost. Gandhi said that for a government built on "vote chori", people are not important, and that is why the BJP neither listens to them nor obeys their command.