Why the opposition is protesting against the SIR: The fight over voter rights and Gyanesh Kumar

For the last three days, opposition parties have been stepping up their protests across Delhi. On Tuesday, they marched from Parliament. On Wednesday, several protesters were detained at Jantar Mantar. On Thursday, the Opposition held a sit-in at Rajghat, at Mahatma Gandhi’s memorial. In these three days, Delhi Police detained Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi three times. Several FIRs have also been filed against him, accusing him of obstructing police personnel.

The INDIA bloc has two main demands: Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar must resign, and the controversial Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls must be scrapped.

At the heart of the dispute is the SIR, a special exercise undertaken by the Election Commission to revise voter lists. The process began in June 2025. The Election Commission said it was meant to clean up the rolls by removing the names of dead and duplicate or bogus voters.

The controversy began after the draft electoral rolls were published. Nearly 13.3 crore names were removed from voter lists across the country, accounting for around 13 per cent of the total electorate. Around 71 per cent of these deletions were reportedly made on the grounds that voters were either not living at the address listed or had moved elsewhere. In Delhi, the names of nearly 33 per cent of voters were removed.

The Opposition alleges that the names of many genuine voters were deleted without following clear procedures and that the exercise could affect election results.

Much of the Opposition’s anger is directed at Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. A former IAS officer of the Kerala cadre, Kumar worked in the Union Home Ministry and was involved in several major government decisions, including the abrogation of Article 370 and the formation of the Ram Janmabhoomi Trust.

After retiring from government service in 2024, Kumar became an Election Commissioner and was appointed Chief Election Commissioner early in 2025. Opposition parties have questioned his independence, pointing to the new selection mechanism introduced by the central government, under which the Chief Justice of India was no longer part of the selection panel.

There have also been reports that the other two Election Commissioners raised objections on several occasions over decisions related to the SIR.

The controversy is no longer limited to the right to vote. Allegations have emerged that in some BJP-ruled states, people whose names were removed from the electoral rolls have faced problems with their ration cards. There have also been claims that police verification for passport renewals was held up in some cases. This has raised concerns that deletion from the voter list could have consequences far beyond elections and affect people’s access to basic documents and services.

The Supreme Court has also stepped into the matter. In May, while not declaring the revision exercise illegal, the court made it clear that the Election Commission can prepare electoral rolls but cannot decide who is an Indian citizen and who is not. More recently, the court asked the Commission to submit the data and records related to the exercise. It also said that any decision found to be unilateral or unlawful could be struck down.

The BJP and the Election Commission have rejected the Opposition’s allegations. They maintain that the exercise is necessary to make voter lists more accurate and transparent. The BJP has accused the Opposition of creating unrest because it fears losing elections.

The Opposition, however, shows no sign of backing down. Protests are now spreading beyond Delhi, while opposition leaders are preparing to meet the President.

Their message remains the same: the protests will continue until Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar steps down.