Published Sep 20, 2026 | 12:13 PM ⚊ Updated Sep 20, 2026 | 12:13 PM
Congress General Secretary (Communications) Jairam Ramesh (File Photo)
Synopsis: Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh has alleged that the ongoing SIR of electoral rolls amounts to an assault on the Constitution and dubbed it a “massive Shah Instigated Removal of voters”. He noted that 32 percent of voters in 12 States and two Union Territories had either been deleted or faced the risk of deletion during the third phase of the exercise and said that the deletions overwhelmingly targeted the disadvantaged and women.
Congress General Secretary (Communications) Jairam Ramesh on Sunday, 20 September, dubbed the Election Commission of India’s ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter rolls a “massive Shah Instigated Removal of voters”, in reference to Home Minister Amit Shah.
In a statement, Ramesh cited publicly available data and said 6.18 crore names out of a total of 36.06 crore had been deleted during the third phase of the exercise. He said the exercise was an assault on the Constitution.
“An additional 5.43 crore voters had been issued notices demanding additional documentation to retain their names on the electoral roll. The risk of deletion works out to another 15 percent,” he said.
“This is an unusually high proportion that reflects structural flaws in the entire SIR process. After such a large round of deletion, how can there still be so many additional voters who need to “be verified”?”
Ramesh said the combined share of voters whose names had been deleted or who faced the risk of deletion was 32 percent, or about one in three voters.
SIR is actually a Shah Instigated Removal of voters on a massive scale. Here is a statement on this brazen assault on our Constitution itself. pic.twitter.com/45Jt4xqZ7D
— Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) September 20, 2026
The highest combined share was reported in Delhi at 53.73 percent, followed by Chandigarh at 52.58 percent and Telangana at 48.90 percent.
The corresponding figures were 39.57 percent in Jharkhand, 37.5 percent in Haryana, 35.71 percent in Uttarakhand, 35.36 percent in Meghalaya, 33.88 percent in Maharashtra, 27.6 percent in Karnataka, 23.67 percent in Odisha, 21.17 percent in Andhra Pradesh and 15.23 percent in Punjab.
Also Read: Election Commission extends Special Intensive Revision schedule for Karnataka and Telangana
Ramesh alleged that the pattern of deletions from the electoral rolls suggested that it overwhelmingly targeted those “belonging to the most economically and socially disadvantaged and deprived sections” of society.
“In most major states, more women than men have been deleted from the electoral roll during the SIR process,” he said.
He also noted that the ECI had published lists of voters facing the risk of deletion in opposition-ruled States such as Karnataka, Telangana and Jharkhand, while the list was made public in Delhi only after public pressure.
“Other BJP-ruled states as well as Punjab have not done so till now,” he added.
(Edited by Dese Gowda)
