01 October,2026 12:19 PM IST | New Delhi | mid-day online correspondent
Rahul Gandhi. Pic/PTI
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday questioned the Election Commission of India (ECI) over changes made to the online Form 6 used for fresh voter registration, asking who authorised Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) to make the alteration and who approved it at the company.
Gandhi also questioned whether TCS was pressured into carrying out the change. His remarks came amid a wider dispute over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and reported differences within the Election Commission over the addition of an SIR-linked declaration to the online voter registration process.
"The online Form 6 was changed illegally - as the EC's own Commissioners have recorded. Who at the ECI ordered Tata Consultancy Services to make that change?" Gandhi said.
"Who at TCS signed off on it? And were they pressured into doing it?" he said on X.
Form 6 is used by eligible citizens to apply for inclusion of their names in electoral rolls. The controversy concerns an additional declaration linked to the SIR process that was added to the online application system.
The Election Commission has maintained that the statutory Form 6 itself was not altered, describing the additional requirement as a separate annexure linked to the SIR process. However, reports have said Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi raised objections to the way the additional declaration was incorporated into the online system.
The controversy intensified after the Election Commission removed the additional SIR-related declaration from online Form 6 in states where the revision exercise had been completed.
The move restored the standard Form 6 process in those states. The additional declaration remains applicable in states where the SIR exercise is currently underway, according to reports on the Election Commission's decision.
The additional declaration had sought information relating to whether an applicant, or their parents or grandparents, had been included in an earlier electoral roll prepared during a previous revision exercise.
The ECI has said its electoral-roll processes follow established statutory procedures. The changes and subsequent withdrawal have nevertheless become a major point of contention between the poll panel and opposition parties.
Gandhi's remarks came a day after opposition INDIA bloc leaders announced a series of programmes to raise concerns over the SIR exercise and alleged irregularities in electoral-roll revision.
At a meeting attended by leaders of 19 political parties, opposition parties announced plans for joint marches in districts and larger rallies. The grouping also demanded that future elections be conducted using ballot papers and called for faster hearings in cases concerning SIR and alleged electoral malpractices.
Opposition MPs are scheduled to march to the Election Commission on October 6, while opposition leaders are also expected to meet the President to raise concerns related to the revision of electoral rolls.
The opposition grouping has also discussed the demand for the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and said it would continue to press its concerns over the functioning of the poll panel.
