Kapil Sibal urges Supreme Court to stop voter roll deletions

Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal has called on the Supreme Court to intervene in the Election Commission’s ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, alleging the process is being used to manipulate voter lists. Sibal claimed the exercise is designed to assist the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in winning elections through a ‘politics of exclusion.’

These allegations follow reports from Jharkhand’s Godda district, where BJP agents reportedly sought to delete voters, primarily from minority communities. State government employees, acting as Booth Level Officers, have raised concerns regarding these actions.

Opposition leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi of the Indian National Congress have also criticized the Election Commission, accusing the ruling party of attempting to undermine democracy through ‘vote chori’ (vote theft). Gandhi specifically noted that over 2.06 crore electors were excluded from Maharashtra’s draft electoral rolls following the SIR exercise.