First time that so many eligible electors have lost their vote due to SIR: former CEC O.P. Rawat
Former Chief Election Commissioner O.P. Rawat has criticized current Election Commissioners for failing to use their majority to overturn controversial decisions regarding electoral roll revisions. He claims this is the first time since Independence that so many eligible voters have lost their voting rights due to administrative processes.
Why it matters
This highlights internal friction within India's constitutional body responsible for democratic integrity, raising concerns about voter disenfranchisement.
When Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi found that their objections were not heard, especially regarding the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, they should not have stopped at dissent notes, said former Chief Election Commissioner O.P. Rawat. Instead, the two ECs should have ensured that all decisions taken against their will were annulled at the very next meeting of the three-member Commission, he said.
The third member of the Election Commission of India (ECI) is Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
Slamming the way the SIR has been carried out, Mr. Rawat noted, in an exclusive interview with The Hindu on Wednesday (September 30, 2026), that this is the first time since Independence that so many eligible electors had lost their voting rights.
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