The Election Commission of India (ECI) has removed the additional declaration linked to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) from online Form 6 applications in states and Union territories where the electoral roll revision exercise has been completed.
The additional requirement has been taken off the ECINET application and portal, as well as the websites of the respective Chief Electoral Officers. New applicants in these states and UTs will now have to submit the statutory Form 6 prescribed under the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960.
The move comes days after the full Commission clarified on September 26 that the additional declaration would apply only during the SIR period. Outside SIR, the forms prescribed under the 1960 Rules would continue to be used. The ECI has also said that the SIR declaration was upheld by the Supreme Court.
What the Form 6 requirement means
Form 6 is the statutory application through which eligible citizens seek inclusion in the electoral roll as new voters. It is prescribed under the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, which govern the preparation and revision of electoral rolls.
The ECI's voter services portal continues to provide Form 6 for new voter registration. During the SIR exercise, however, an additional declaration was attached to the online application.
The declaration sought information on whether the applicant, their parents or grandparents appeared in an earlier electoral roll, making it a point of contention within the poll panel.
Why the additional declaration triggered objections
The move to attach the additional declaration to Form 6 had drawn objections from Election Commissioners Vivek Joshi and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu, according to a report by The Indian Express.
Joshi had argued that Form 6 is a statutory form prescribed under the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, and therefore could not be modified without an amendment to the Rules. Sandhu subsequently endorsed the objection. The issue was part of a wider set of disagreements reportedly raised by the two commissioners over decisions concerning the electoral rolls and the poll panel's systems.
The ECI, however, maintained that there had been no alteration to the statutory Form 6 itself and that the additional declaration was part of the SIR process. The Commission said on September 26 that the declaration would be applicable during SIR, while the statutory forms under the 1960 Rules would be used during non-SIR periods.
The latest change means that applicants in areas where SIR has concluded no longer face the additional declaration requirement. In states where the exercise remains under way, the SIR-related requirement continues to apply, according to current reports.
Congress seeks halt to SIR
The development comes amid a wider political dispute over the electoral roll revision exercise. The Congress Working Committee has demanded that the SIR be halted and sought restoration of what it says are 130 million names deleted from electoral rolls.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has also demanded that the Election Commission publish complete data on major changes made to electoral rolls. He called for independent, time-bound inquiries wherever there is evidence of serious discrepancies.
The party has further demanded that voters whose names have been removed from the rolls be informed and given an opportunity to appeal. It has sought electoral rolls and relevant data to be shared with political parties in a simple format and within a reasonable timeframe.
Congress has also called for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's resignation over the SIR exercise. Congress general secretary KC Venugopal said the party would organise peaceful protests across states and districts in coordination with INDIA bloc parties.
The Congress had earlier criticised the additional declaration attached to Form 6, particularly the requirement seeking information about an applicant's presence, or that of their parents or grandparents, in an earlier electoral roll.