New Delhi. Congress leader Jairam Ramesh has made a big attack on the Election Commission and Modi government. He has raised questions on the process of Special Intensive Revision (SIR). Also said that, names of 7.8 crore voters have been removed in two phases. SIR is actually Shah Instigated Removal of voters on a large scale. This is an attack on our Constitution.
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Jairam Ramesh said that, the Election Commission of India (ECI) had started the first phase of the process of Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter lists in Bihar in June 2025. After this, its second phase was started in 9 states and 3 Union Territories (UTS) in November 2025. In the first and second phase, names of 7.8 crore voters were removed from the voter list. If we look at it in proportion to the voter list before SIR, the rate of deletion of names is 13%. The third phase began in mid-2026 in 16 states and 3 union territories. In this ongoing third phase, the figures for 12 states and 2 union territories are as follows.
Jairam Ramesh said that out of the total 36.06 crore voters, names of 6.18 crore voters have been removed. Accordingly, the rate of deletion of names is more than 17%. Apart from this, notices have been issued to 5.43 crore voters asking for additional documents to keep their names in the voter list. There is a risk of names of another 15% voters being removed. This is an unusually high proportion, highlighting the structural flaws in the entire SIR process. How can there be so many additional voters who are yet to be 'verified' even after such large scale deletion of names?
He further said, thus, an astonishing 32% of the voters – that is almost one in every three voters – have either had their names removed from the electoral rolls or are at risk of being removed. The state-wise position on this scale is as follows: Delhi (53.73%), Chandigarh (52.58%), Jharkhand (39.57%), Uttarakhand (35.71%), Meghalaya (35.36%), Maharashtra (33.88%), Telangana (48.90%), Karnataka (27.6%), Haryana (37.5%), Odisha (23.67%), Andhra Pradesh (21.17%) and Punjab (15.23%).
He said, the list of voters whose names are in danger of being removed in Karnataka, Telangana and Jharkhand was made public so that they could complete their verification. In Delhi, this list was made public only on 19 September 2026 and that too only after public pressure. Punjab, along with other BJP-ruled states, has not done so yet.
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There is ample evidence to show that the overwhelming majority of voters whose names have been removed on a large scale in different states come from the economically and socially most vulnerable and deprived sections of our society. In most of the big states, more names of women than men have been removed from the voter list during the SIR process. Through this SIR, the government has shirked its responsibility and has put the burden on the citizens to produce such documents, which may never have been provided to them by the government. The criterion which most of the citizens of the country cannot meet is actually just a machine to exclude people. SIR is actually Shah Instigated Removal of voters on a large scale. This is an attack on our Constitution.