Election Commission Faces Criticism Over Electoral Roll Deletions

The Election Commission of India (ECI), led by Gyanesh Kumar, is under scrutiny following a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls that resulted in the deletion of 13.37 crore names across 30 States and Union Territories. Critics argue that methodological flaws and ad-hoc rule changes have disenfranchised millions of genuine voters, with deletion rates reaching 17% in the third phase of the revision.

In some regions, such as Delhi, current draft rolls contain fewer electors than the number of votes cast in the 2025 Assembly election. The ECI has since initiated a special drive to re-enrol missing voters, implicitly acknowledging the systemic exclusion caused by the SIR process.

Editor's note: The article effectively synthesizes complex data regarding the ECI's electoral roll revision process while maintaining necessary brevity.