Rahul Gandhi and 10 INDIA bloc leaders have approached the Supreme Court challenging the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls, alleging voter deletions and irregularities. The petition names the ECI and senior election officials as respondents amid political tensions.
Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and 10 other leaders of the INDIA bloc have approached the Supreme Court, challenging the Election Commission of India’s (ECI) Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. The petition alleges large-scale voter deletions and irregularities in the revision process, raising concerns over electoral fairness and the possible exclusion of eligible voters.
The writ petition was filed on Monday and names the Election Commission of India, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar and other senior election officials as respondents. According to the case status available on the Supreme Court’s website, the petition was filed on October 12 under diary number 64196/2026 and is currently pending.
The petitioners include Rahul Gandhi, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Trinamool Congress leader Saugata Roy, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut, CPI(M) leader M.A. Baby, CPI leader D. Raja, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha leader Mahua Majhi, NCP (SP) leader Supriya Sule and Indian Union Muslim League leader E.T. Mohammed Basheer.
The respondents named in the petition include the Election Commission of India, CEC Gyanesh Kumar, Election Commissioner Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Election Commissioner Vivek Joshi.
Opposition Raises Concerns Over Electoral Fairness
The legal move comes amid growing tensions between Opposition parties and the Election Commission over the SIR exercise. INDIA bloc leaders have alleged that the revision process could lead to the deletion of eligible voters from electoral rolls and undermine confidence in the electoral system.
The Opposition has maintained that electoral roll revision must be conducted transparently, with adequate safeguards to ensure that eligible citizens are not excluded from the voting process. By approaching the Supreme Court, the leaders are seeking judicial intervention in the controversy surrounding the exercise.
Earlier on Monday, Rahul Gandhi said Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant had advised Opposition leaders to approach the Supreme Court through a formal petition after they sought an appointment to raise their concerns over the SIR process.
Addressing a press conference at the Congress headquarters in New Delhi, Gandhi said he and Kharge had written to the Chief Justice expressing concern over electoral fairness and what they described as an “attack on democracy”.
Gandhi announced that leaders from the INDIA bloc would jointly initiate legal proceedings before the apex court. He also appealed to citizens to join their campaign in support of the Constitution and democratic principles.
The Opposition leaders had also begun a protest march towards the Supreme Court, demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in the electoral process. Their protest reflected the intensifying political dispute over the revision of electoral rolls and the role of the poll body.
BJP Rejects Opposition’s Allegations
Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) strongly criticised the INDIA bloc’s position on the SIR exercise, accusing the Opposition of turning the controversy into a political spectacle.
BJP national spokesperson Guru Prakash Paswan, speaking to IANS, dismissed the allegations raised by Opposition leaders and argued that the Supreme Court had already ruled on the constitutional validity of the SIR exercise.
“This is baseless… They are lying. The Supreme Court has already ruled on the constitutionality of SIR,” Paswan said.
He further alleged that the Congress was losing elections across the country, including elections conducted using ballot papers. To support his argument, he referred to local elections in Silchar in Assam, Tripura and Himachal Pradesh.
The BJP’s response highlights the political divide over the electoral roll revision process, with the ruling party rejecting the Opposition’s allegations and the INDIA bloc seeking judicial scrutiny.
Supreme Court Proceedings Awaited
With the petition currently listed as pending in the case-status information cited in the report, the next steps in the legal proceedings remain to be seen. The filing marks a significant development in the ongoing dispute between Opposition parties and the Election Commission over the SIR exercise.
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The central issue raised by the petitioners concerns the integrity of electoral rolls and the protection of eligible voters’ rights. The Opposition’s allegations and the BJP’s counterarguments have placed the revision process at the centre of a broader political debate over electoral transparency.
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Any further developments will depend on the proceedings before the Supreme Court. The petition’s filing does not, by itself, establish the allegations of voter deletions or irregularities, and the legal challenge remains pending.
