25 September,2026 06:19 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
Priyanka Chaturvedi said the Opposition`s primary concern since the beginning of the SIR process has been the alleged arbitrary nature of additions and deletions from electoral rolls. FILE PIC
Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) leader Priyanka Chaturvedi on Friday said concerns over the Election Commission's Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process are not limited to political parties, as common people are also beginning to question whether their votes are authorised, valid, and protected from tampering.
Speaking to IANS amid the controversy surrounding the SIR process and reports of objections raised by two Election Commissioners, Chaturvedi also addressed the Opposition's preparations to bring an impeachment motion against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
"Political parties are one side. People are now beginning to wonder whether our vote is authorised, and after being authorised, whether it is valid. Whether it is being tampered with or notâ¦," Chaturvedi said.
She stated that the Opposition's primary concern since the beginning of the SIR process has been the alleged arbitrary nature of additions and deletions from electoral rolls.
"Since the SIR process has started, our only complaint is that the additions and deletions that are happening are being done arbitrarily. At present, we have learned through the Election Commissioners that they raised objections fourteen times in the last 10 months," Chaturvedi said.
Chaturvedi stated that the two Election Commissioners had raised concerns over the procedures followed for adding, deleting, and restoring names during the SIR process.
She said they had pointed out that "Voter addition, deletion, and restoration processes in the SIR process were not clear. The commission held no meeting, and all the decisions were being taken arbitrarily, which they realised only after they got the news in the media."
She also cited concerns raised by the officers over the centralisation of electoral-roll IT infrastructure.
"The most crucial part of the Election Commission's responsibility is keeping all the election-related processes decentralised so that all the State election commissioners could be empowered," she added.
Chaturvedi further alleged that the introduction of Form 6 was illegal as permission from the government was required before introducing it.
She cited the example of Goa, saying that when an Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) asked for voters' names to be included after completing an investigation and establishing that they were authorised voters, the names could not be added directly.
"Goa's example had come forth that when the ERO asked to include voters' names after completing their investigation, stating that the voters are authorised and that they should be relisted. The information had to be given to the central database. They couldn't include the names themselves," she said.
Chaturvedi also questioned the manner in which the Election Commission's decisions were communicated.
"There are no signatures on the press release from the Election Commission. No press conference was held. None of the three Election Commissioners sat together. On what basis is the BJP supporting them?" she asked.
She further questioned why the two Election Commissioners would have sought a meeting with the Cabinet Secretary if the reported differences were merely initial objections that were subsequently resolved collectively.
"The question is, if everything happened according to their wishes, these were initial objections, initial differences, and then everyone collectively took the decision, why were two Election Commissioners eager to meet the Cabinet Secretary to tell him how arbitrary actions were being carried out?" Chaturvedi said.
Earlier, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi confronted Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and the Bharatiya Janata Party over the SIR controversy, asking the CEC to resign and turn "approver" in the alleged "stealing" of votes.
The remarks came a day after a media report claimed there were differences within the poll panel over the SIR of electoral rolls and other issues. The Election Commission, however, rejected the report, saying that decisions related to the SIR were taken unanimously.
According to reports, Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had raised objections on several issues linked to the SIR process over a period of 10 months. The reported concerns included voter deletions, the handling of electoral data, Form 6 and access to the electoral-roll database.
The Election Commission has maintained that operational queries and suggestions raised during the process were part of its internal deliberations and did not amount to disagreement with the final decisions.
(With IANS inputs)
