Journalist Ravish Kumar launched a sharp attack on the Election Commission on Friday amid a fresh controversy over its decision to use Form 6 to facilitate the re-enrolment of eligible voters whose names were deleted or left out during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. His remarks came as former Chief Election Commissioner S Y Quraishi questioned the legality of requiring previously registered electors to use a form that contains a declaration associated with first-time inclusion.
“Lie after lie, then another lie. They want everyone to get caught up in their lies and become liars themselves,” Kumar wrote while sharing Quraishi’s post. He added, “If it weren't for people like you, what would happen. Today is Bapu's birthday, and here we are discussing a dacoit.”
Quraishi flags Form 6
Quraishi had objected to the Election Commission’s October 1 special-drive instructions, under which Booth Level Officers were asked to compare electoral rolls from before and after the SIR, trace electors who had been left out and facilitate their enrolment through Form 6 where they were found eligible. The EC has said voter enrolment is a continuous process and that people whose names have been deleted can apply for enrolment.
The former CEC, however, argued that Form 6 creates a legal problem for previously registered voters because the form contains a declaration that the applicant is seeking inclusion in the electoral roll for the first time and that his or her name is not already included in any constituency. “Form 6 can’t be filled by a deleted voter. It’s only for NEW voters,” Quraishi wrote.
He further alleged that those compelled to make a false declaration could face consequences under election law and accused officials who required them to do so of “abetment”. Those are Quraishi’s allegations; the EC’s stated position is that eligible people left out or deleted from the rolls can seek enrolment and that the special drive is intended to identify and facilitate such electors.
Special drive ordered
The Election Commission has directed authorities in states and Union Territories where SIR has been completed to undertake a special exercise covering “left-out and first-time/young electors”. BLOs are expected to compare the current rolls with those that existed before SIR, conduct field verification and help eligible people complete the enrolment process.
The exercise comes amid continuing political and legal scrutiny of SIR and the large number of names excluded from draft electoral rolls. Reports have put the number removed from draft rolls during the exercise at around 13 crore, though that figure does not establish that all those names belonged to eligible voters who were wrongly deleted.
Form 6 controversy
Form 6 has already been at the centre of a separate controversy. Reports last month said Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had raised objections over an additional SIR-linked declaration attached to the online enrolment process, including questions over whether such changes required amendments to the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960. The EC responded that the original Form 6 itself had not been changed and that the SIR-related declaration was a separate annexure.
Kumar’s intervention has now added another prominent voice to the dispute, with the immediate question shifting to whether the mechanism being used to restore eligible deleted voters to the rolls is legally and procedurally appropriate. The EC, meanwhile, has presented the special drive as an effort to ensure that eligible citizens who were left out are identified and facilitated for enrolment.