INDIA Bloc sets out joint campaign against SIR and Election Commission

The INDIA bloc has announced a coordinated political and legal campaign against the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls, with opposition parties deciding on a series of protests beginning October 2, a joint march to the poll panel on October 6 and a major Delhi rally on November 1. The decisions followed a nearly three-and-a-half-hour meeting of 19 opposition parties in New Delhi on Wednesday, turning the bloc’s objections over voter-roll revision into a common programme of action.

The immediate issue is the SIR exercise and what Opposition parties allege are irregularities in electoral-roll revision. The controversy has intensified after reports that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had raised objections on multiple occasions over decisions linked to the exercise. The Election Commission has maintained that differences during deliberations are normal and that decisions taken by the majority have legal sanction.

Against that backdrop, the bloc has now put six demands at the centre of its campaign.

First, it wants the pre-SIR electoral roll to be used for future elections, alongside complete constituency-wise and booth-wise transparency over additions, deletions and corrections. Second, it wants no legitimate voter removed without prior notice, reasons and an effective mechanism of appeal. Third, it has demanded safeguards against eligible voters being excluded because of documentation problems, administrative failures or lack of awareness.

The remaining demands move beyond the immediate SIR process. The bloc wants easier registration for young and first-time voters and greater institutional accountability from the Election Commission, with an electoral authority capable of commanding confidence across political parties. It has also collectively backed a return to paper ballots instead of EVMs, with Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge saying all participating parties agreed on the position.

The demands now have a mobilisation calendar attached to them.

From October 2 to 8, INDIA bloc parties will organise district-level “Save Democracy” marches and demonstrations outside district magistrates’ offices. On October 6, Opposition MPs will march together to the Election Commission in Delhi. The bloc also plans to seek a meeting with President Droupadi Murmu in the second week of October to submit a representation on what it describes as constitutional and electoral concerns.

The campaign will extend into November. The Opposition has announced a major rally in Delhi on November 1, while its leaders also plan to seek expedited hearings in pending Supreme Court cases concerning SIR and alleged electoral malpractice.

The question of the Election Commission itself is central to the campaign. Kharge has demanded the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, while Mamata Banerjee reiterated after the meeting that the agitation would intensify if Kumar remained in office. These are demands and political allegations made by Opposition leaders, not findings established by the Election Commission or a court.

The meeting also produced a second, competing political narrative around attendance. Nineteen parties participated, including the Congress, Trinamool Congress, Samajwadi Party, NCP (SP), Shiv Sena (UBT), RJD, Left parties, JMM, National Conference, PDP, IUML and others. Akhilesh Yadav did not attend personally, but SP representatives participated; Uddhav Thackeray joined virtually. AAP and DMK were absent, while the DMK has separately indicated support for the parliamentary move seeking Kumar’s removal.

The BJP has seized on those absences to argue that the INDIA bloc is divided and that Rahul Gandhi’s leadership lacks acceptance. That is the ruling party’s political interpretation. The Opposition, meanwhile, has pointed to the 19-party meeting, the common six-point programme and the joint protest calendar as evidence of coordinated action.

What emerged from Delhi, therefore, is a concrete escalation: the INDIA bloc has tied its objections to SIR, voter-roll transparency, the Election Commission and voting systems into one campaign — moving from individual political statements to street mobilisation, institutional representations and legal intervention, beginning October 2.