Daijiworld Media Network - New Delhi
New Delhi, Oct 1: Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Thursday questioned the Election Commission of India (ECI) over changes made to the online Form 6 used for voter registration, asking who authorised the alteration and whether Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) was pressured to implement it.
In a post on X, Gandhi alleged that the online Form 6 was changed illegally and asked who within the ECI ordered TCS to make the change and who at the company approved it.
His remarks came a day after the ECI removed an additional Special Intensive Revision (SIR)-related declaration from the online Form 6 in states where the electoral roll revision exercise has been completed.
The additional declaration has been removed from the ECINET app and portal as well as the respective Chief Electoral Officer websites in those states. Applicants seeking enrolment are now required to submit the statutory Form 6 prescribed under the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960. The additional declaration remains applicable in states and Union Territories where the SIR exercise is still underway.
The declaration had required new applicants to provide details linking themselves, their parents or grandparents to electoral rolls prepared during an earlier intensive revision.
The controversy intensified after reports that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had raised objections to the inclusion of the additional declaration in the online enrolment process. The ECI, however, has maintained that the statutory Form 6 itself was not amended and that the additional declaration was a requirement specifically linked to the SIR exercise.
The Commission has also said that differing views and observations are part of institutional deliberations and that its orders relating to the SIR process have followed established statutory procedures.
Gandhi's remarks came amid a wider political dispute over the SIR exercise. The opposition INDIA bloc on Wednesday announced joint protests and “Save Democracy” marches across districts, besides plans for a march by its MPs to the Election Commission on October 6.
The opposition grouping has also raised concerns over alleged irregularities in electoral roll revision and demanded that issues relating to the SIR process be taken up expeditiously. The ECI has rejected allegations of procedural irregularities and maintained that electoral rolls are prepared through established statutory processes.