Daijiworld Media Network - New Delhi

New Delhi, Jun 28: The Congress, Trinamool Congress (TMC) and CPI(M) on Sunday criticised the Centre after former The Telegraph editor R Rajagopal alleged that his passport renewal process was delayed following the removal of his name from West Bengal’s electoral rolls during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise.

Opposition leaders said Rajagopal’s experience reflected what they described as a larger concern over citizens’ rights and difficulties faced by ordinary people during the voter list revision process.

In a detailed note, Rajagopal said he had been left in a “state of civic uncertainty” after his passport renewal was affected by an adverse police verification report linked to his exclusion from the electoral rolls.

He said he was among nearly 27 lakh residents of West Bengal whose names were removed due to what authorities described as “logical discrepancies”.

“No reason was furnished even after I submitted my matriculation certificate, and my appeal is now pending before one of the tribunals constituted pursuant to the Supreme Court's directions,” Rajagopal wrote.

He added that although he completed biometric formalities for passport renewal on March 19, 2026, police verification had not been cleared because his name was no longer present on the electoral roll.

Rajagopal said his aim was not to portray himself as a victim but to highlight the challenges faced by citizens with fewer resources.

“If someone who spent his professional life in journalism and edited a relatively known newspaper can encounter such difficulties, one can only imagine what the truly marginalised must endure,” he said.

His remarks triggered political reactions, with Opposition leaders linking the issue to the Election Commission’s SIR exercise in West Bengal ahead of the Assembly elections.

Congress Rajya Sabha MP Vivek Tankha said the incident showed “the level of irrationality” the country had reached and questioned whether India was moving away from the rule of law.

TMC Rajya Sabha MP Sagarika Ghose described Rajagopal’s account as “shocking” and “heart-rending”.

“If this can happen to R Rajagopal, former editor of The Telegraph, imagine what citizens with far fewer resources are enduring,” she said.

CPI(M) general secretary M A Baby alleged that the SIR process was being used to disenfranchise people and claimed it was linked to the BJP’s political agenda.

“Right from the outset, the CPI(M) had warned that the SIR exercise would disenfranchise the poor and vulnerable sections of our country. But now, even an editor of repute and an acclaimed journalist like R Rajagopal has been denied his right to vote,” Baby said.

The SIR exercise in West Bengal has triggered political and legal controversy after lakhs of names were reportedly deleted from electoral rolls or placed under adjudication.

The Supreme Court has not stayed the exercise but directed the formation of appellate tribunals headed by retired High Court judges to hear challenges against deletion of names.

Rajagopal’s statement comes amid ongoing legal proceedings, with several petitioners claiming that their names were removed from electoral rolls or kept pending despite submitting government-issued identity documents.