Kapil Sibal on Voter Roll Revision: Rajya Sabha MP and senior advocate Kapil Sibal said on Wednesday that the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision, or SIR, is not being handled fairly. He claimed it could be used to alter voter lists in a way that helps the BJP. He also asked the Supreme Court to step in, pointing to what he called “bulk deletions” of voters.
Sibal made the comments after a report by The Indian Express. That report said there were alleged moves to remove voters in Godda district in Jharkhand. The claim was that Booth Level Officers raised concerns about voter deletion requests tied to applications.
Kapil Sibal on Voter Roll Revision
On Wednesday, Sibal posted about the Godda claims on X. He said the alleged removal of minority voters amounts to “politics of exclusion.” He urged the Supreme Court to halt bulk deletions.
In a post on X, Sibal said, “Politics of exclusion. BJP agents: Target Muslims, seek bulk deletions. Supreme Court needs to stop this!” “SIR is an exercise: To manipulate the voters list. Help BJP win elections!” the Independent Rajya Sabha MP said.
What Happened in Jharkhand’s Godda?
The report says BJP Booth Level Agents, or BLAs, submitted Form 7 requests to remove voters from the electoral roll. It also claims that many of the listed voters come from a minority community.
The report adds that at least four booths saw objections from BLOs. They said the requests looked fake or did not follow the proper steps. It says the issue later reached the office of the state Chief Electoral Officer.
In Maheshtikri village, at Booth No. 9, the newspaper reported that one BJP BLA filed 25 deletion forms for voters. At another booth, it says a BLA brought 75 forms. After the BLO questioned the BLA, the forms were burned.
Form 7 matters because it is the form used to ask for a voter’s name to be taken off an electoral list. The reasons can include death, moving to another place, being listed more than once, not living in the constituency, or not being an Indian citizen.
So the dispute in Godda is not really about whether Form 7 exists. The focus is on who sent the papers, what reasons were written and whether the work was done in the right way.
Delhi SIR Deadline Extended Again: Check the New Voter Roll Schedule
What Is SIR and Why Is It Being Conducted?
The Special Intensive Revision, or SIR goes further than a normal revision of the voters list.
The Election Commission says the goal is simple. Eligible people should appear on the roll. Names that should not be there should be taken out. The list must stay correct.
The ECI set the Bihar SIR in motion in June 2025. It pointed to Article 324 of the Constitution and to Section 21(3) of the Representation of the People Act, 1950. The Commission also mentioned why the exercise was needed. It cited migration, more people moving to cities, cases where deaths were not recorded and repeat entries or more than one entry for the same person.
Supreme Court View On SIR
The Supreme Court has already dealt with a big legal challenge to the Bihar SIR.
In its order dated May 27, 2026, the court allowed the Bihar SIR to proceed. The court said the ECI’s power comes from Article 324 of the Constitution along with Section 21(3) of the Representation of the People Act.
Bihar SIR: What Happened to the Voter Numbers?
The Bihar exercise provides some context for the scale of SIR. According to the Election Commission, Bihar had around 7.89 crore electors on June 24, 2025. The draft roll published during the exercise contained about 7.24 crore electors.
The ECI subsequently reported that around 3.66 lakh additional names were removed from the draft list, while approximately 21.53 lakh eligible electors were added. The final electoral roll published on September 30, 2025 contained around 7.42 crore electors.
“You can file bulk forms – in the sense you can get 45, take 45 of them, or 100 of them, or even 400 of them. You can file the forms and you can say that this name should be deleted. You don’t have to give any reason for it, and if it is found to be false, it doesn’t matter,” Sibal said.
