Civil society groups demand reversal of India voter-roll revision
Lawyers and civil society groups have urged the Election Commission to withdraw the special intensive revision of voter lists and restore names removed from rolls. They want future elections to use pre-revision lists and have called for the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
Senior lawyers and civil society members have demanded that India’s Election Commission withdraw its special intensive revision of voter lists and restore all electors removed from rolls during the exercise. Speaking in New Delhi on Monday under the banner Together We Stand, the groups said forthcoming elections should be held using voter lists that existed before the revision, subject to a summary revision if necessary. They also called for the immediate resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
If he does not resign, they said proceedings to remove him should begin. Senior lawyer Kapil Sibal said the Supreme Court should set aside decisions of the Election Commission. He referred to an alleged disclosure that the other two Election Commissioners had objected to some decisions taken during the revision.
Sibal said the pre-revision lists should be used for upcoming elections and warned that free and fair elections were essential to democracy. The groups sought a public social audit of electoral rolls, following procedures described in the Election Commission’s December 2023 Manual on Electoral Rolls. They said no voter should be removed without open verification at the village, ward or booth level, with officials present and facilities available to correct wrongful deletions.
Political activist and psephologist Yogendra Yadav cited government data to claim that the adult population rose from 99 crore at the time of the 2024 Lok Sabha election to 103 crore, while the voter list declined from 98 crore names to 88 crore. The groups also demanded publication of documents linked to the revision, including Commission meeting minutes, objections, voter-categorisation criteria, software information and communications with State election officials. They called for welfare benefits to be restored to people allegedly denied them because their names were removed.
Lawyer Prashant Bhushan said the exercise violated the Representation of the People Act.
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