According to Hindustan Times, the Registrar General of India (RGI), in an affidavit dated September 28, informed a bench of Justices P.S. Narasimha and Alok Aradhe that the state NRC coordinator had yet to begin issuing rejection slips. The RGI attributed the delay to the fact that the NRC data had not been shared with its office, as the security framework required for the data was still being prepared.

The affidavit filed by the RGI in Assam State Jamiat Ulama v. Union of India, Writ Petition (Civil) No. 839 of 2026, confirms that the process remains incomplete despite repeated directions and correspondence between the concerned authorities.

“Enactment of the security regime for NRC data by the state coordinator is under progress and hence data has not been shared with the Registrar General of India,” the affidavit states. It further explains that the RGI can formally notify the final NRC only after receiving the data from the state coordinator.

The immediate consequence is that people excluded from the final list remain without the rejection slips intended to facilitate their appeals before Foreigners Tribunals. The delay is particularly significant because the Supreme Court had directed the state NRC coordinator as far back as May 8, 2018, to develop a mechanism for issuing these documents.

Supreme Court directive remains unimplemented

The Supreme Court’s May 8, 2018, order required the state NRC coordinator to develop a system through which those excluded from the final register could obtain rejection slips and pursue appeals before Foreigners Tribunals. The document is intended to communicate the outcome of the NRC process and facilitate a challenge to exclusion. The RGI’s latest affidavit records that, despite subsequent directions and administrative discussions, the state coordinator has not commenced the process.

The affidavit traces the delay through a series of official communications. At a meeting chaired by the Union Home Secretary on February 22, 2020, it was decided that rejection slips in cases where the results were considered correct should be issued immediately, with March 31, 2020, set as the deadline. Cases involving discrepancies between the results recorded in physical records and those entered into the computer system were to be referred to the concerned Deputy Commissioners for clarification. On November 5, 2020, the RGI wrote to the state coordinator, asking that the issuance of rejection slips be completed in accordance with the applicable standard operating procedures, guidelines and Supreme Court directions. The process, however, remained uninitiated.

The state coordinator had earlier informed the RGI, through a letter dated October 8, 2020, that rejection slips could be issued only after the RGI formally notified the final NRC. The coordinator also stated that the security framework for the NRC data was under preparation and that the data had therefore not been transferred to the RGI.

This has left the process caught between two administrative requirements: the RGI says it cannot notify the final NRC without the data, while the state coordinator has maintained that rejection slips cannot be issued until that notification takes place. The result is that the Supreme Court-mandated mechanism for enabling excluded people to challenge their exclusion has remained stalled for years.

Security framework for NRC data still pending

The delay is linked to the Supreme Court’s August 13, 2019, direction that the NRC data be protected through a security regime comparable to the safeguards governing Aadhaar data. The court had directed that the lists of inclusions and exclusions be made available to the state government, the Union government and the RGI only after the prescribed safeguards were put in place. According to the RGI’s affidavit, the state coordinator is still working on implementing this framework. Until the data is shared, the RGI says it cannot formally notify the final register.

The affidavit thus places the responsibility for the continuing delay within an unresolved administrative process involving data security, transfer of records and formal notification. It does not, however, alter the practical consequence for those excluded: the rejection slips have not been issued, and the appeal mechanism envisaged by the court has not been operationalised through this step.

The prolonged delay raises serious questions about the effectiveness of a citizenship verification exercise when the administrative steps necessary to communicate its outcome and facilitate legal challenges remain incomplete years after publication.

Nearly 19.07 lakh people excluded from the final NRC

The NRC update was notified by the Union government in December 2013 and undertaken in accordance with Section 14A of the Citizenship Act, 1955, and the Citizenship Rules, 2003. Rule 4A and the Schedule appended to the Rules prescribe the framework for preparing the NRC in Assam. The exercise was conducted against the backdrop of the Assam Accord, which established March 24, 1971, as the relevant cut-off date for determining the citizenship claims of persons who migrated to Assam from the territory that is now Bangladesh, subject to the applicable legal provisions.

According to the RGI’s affidavit, applications were received between May and August 2015. A total of approximately 68.27 lakh applications covering 3.30 crore people were submitted, accompanied by around 6.6 crore documents intended to establish eligibility for inclusion.

Applicants were required to furnish documentary evidence linking themselves or their ancestors to the prescribed legacy records, including the 1951 NRC or electoral rolls up to midnight on March 24, 1971, along with other admissible documents. Where necessary, officials undertook further verification, including inquiries concerning the authenticity of documents and the linkage between applicants and their ancestors.

The complete draft NRC was published on July 30, 2018. Those whose names were missing could submit claims for inclusion, while objections could also be filed against entries. The RGI’s affidavit records that 36,26,630 people filed claims for inclusion and that 1,87,633 objections were received by December 31, 2018.

Following the disposal of claims and objections, the supplementary lists were published on August 31, 2019. The final exercise found 3,11,21,004 people eligible for inclusion, while 19,06,657 people were left out, including those who had not submitted claims.

The exclusion of nearly 19.07 lakh people did not, in itself, eliminate their right to pursue the legal remedies contemplated under the NRC framework. Those dissatisfied with the outcome were entitled to challenge the decision before Foreigners Tribunals. The absence of rejection slips, however, has left the process without the formal documentation intended to enable such challenges.

Separate Supreme Court challenge over NRC identity cards

The dispute over rejection slips forms part of a broader set of proceedings concerning the incomplete implementation of the Assam NRC. In a separate matter, All Assam Minorities Students Union v. Union of India, Writ Petition (Civil) No. 1030 of 2025, the petitioners have challenged the failure of the authorities to issue National Identity Cards to people whose names were included in the final NRC published in August 2019.

The petitions have been brought by organisations including the All Assam Minorities Students Union (AAMSU), Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind and the Assam Sankhyalaghu Sangram Parishad. They seek implementation of the legal and administrative steps that, according to them, remain outstanding despite the publication of the register.

The petitioners rely on Section 14A of the Citizenship Act, 1955, which provides for the registration of citizens and the issuance of national identity cards, and Rule 13 of the Citizenship Rules, 2003, concerning the issuance of National Identity Cards to citizens whose particulars are entered in the National Register of Indian Citizens.

They have also sought the issuance of rejection slips to those excluded from the NRC and the initiation of the corresponding appeal process under Paragraph 8 of the Schedule to Rule 4A of the Citizenship Rules, 2003.

The petitioners contend that the failure to issue identity cards to those included and rejection slips to those excluded has left the NRC exercise incomplete. Their case raises questions concerning the implementation of the statutory framework and the constitutional guarantees under Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution, which protect equality before the law and the right to life and personal liberty, respectively.

The distinction between the two categories is important. People included in the NRC are seeking the identity cards contemplated under the statutory framework, while those excluded are seeking rejection slips that would enable them to challenge the outcome. Both issues concern outstanding steps following the publication of the final register, but they involve separate legal and administrative requirements.

The RGI’s affidavit in the proceedings brought by Assam State Jamiat Ulama also states that the question of issuing NRC identity cards to those included in the final list is pending before the Supreme Court in separate proceedings.

Re-verification plea adds another layer to the dispute

The NRC proceedings are further complicated by a separate plea filed by Hitesh Dev Sarma, the former state NRC coordinator, seeking a complete, comprehensive and time-bound re-verification of the draft and supplementary NRC lists. According to the RGI’s affidavit, Sarma filed an interlocutory application on May 14, 2021, in the proceedings in Assam Public Works v. Union of India, Writ Petition (Civil) No. 274 of 2009, seeking re-verification of the NRC.

The affidavit also refers to a separate petition, Writ Petition (Civil) No. 740 of 2025, filed by Sarma on July 24, 2025, seeking comprehensive and time-bound re-verification on the ground of alleged inaccuracies in the NRC lists. The RGI has noted that the Supreme Court disposed of the original proceedings in W.P. (C) No. 274 of 2009, along with pending applications, through its order dated October 17, 2024. The affidavit also refers to the Supreme Court’s decision upholding the constitutional validity of Section 6A of the Citizenship Act, 1955, which establishes the special framework for citizenship in Assam under the Assam Accord.

These proceedings form part of the continuing legal contest over the NRC’s preparation, accuracy and implementation. The outstanding questions surrounding re-verification, identity cards and rejection slips must nevertheless be distinguished: a demand to re-examine the register is not the same as the immediate issue of enabling people already excluded to pursue the remedy contemplated under the existing framework.

Supreme Court adjourns matter to November 6

The Supreme Court has adjourned the matter concerning the rejection slips to November 6 after the Assam government sought additional time to file its response, Hindustan Times reported. The proceedings arise from petitions by Assam State Jamiat Ulama, AAMSU and Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind, among others, seeking the issuance of rejection slips to people excluded from the NRC and identity cards for those included.

The immediate question before the court is not merely whether the NRC data can be formally notified, but how the outstanding steps required to give effect to the register will be completed. The RGI’s affidavit confirms that the rejection-slip process has yet to begin, while the security framework required before the transfer of data remains under preparation.

The delay has persisted despite the Supreme Court’s directions, administrative discussions and the RGI’s own communication to the state coordinator in November 2020. For the nearly 19.07 lakh people excluded from the final list, the absence of rejection slips continues to obstruct access to the mechanism intended to challenge their exclusion.

Seven years after the final NRC was published, the register remains caught in an unresolved administrative and legal process. Until the data is transferred, the final NRC formally notified and rejection slips issued, the exercise will continue to leave a fundamental question unanswered for those excluded: how can they effectively challenge a decision when the document intended to facilitate that challenge has not been issued?

Related:

When Belonging Must Be Proved: Assam’s Kashem Ali wins long citizenship battle

Assam citizens’ forum demands scrapping of SIR, completion of pending NRC process; police block protesters at Guwahati Press Club

CJP helps secure Ajabha Khatun’s release after 772 days in Assam’s Matia detention camp

Census 2027: When a population count starts asking for more than just numbers

Assam citizens’ forum demands scrapping of SIR, completion of pending NRC process; police block protesters at Guwahati Press Club

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CJP EXCLUSIVE: How the Union of India took a giant step towards both NPR & NRC in 2015 without informed consent

The post Assam NRC: Seven years after 19 lakh people were excluded, rejection slips remain a non-starter appeared first on SabrangIndia.

In his post on X, Singh endorsed Yadav’s question to Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar: “Why did Ram kill only a ‘Yadav’? Why did Ram not kill a Singh, Pathak, Asthana, Sharma, Rai or Bisht? Is your computer deeply casteist? Are you running the agenda of a political party?”

The post questioned how the name had appeared in the electoral roll and whether the discrepancy reflected a problem with the system. Singh described Yadav’s question as justified.

ज्ञानेश कुमार जी आख़िर राम ने “यादव” को ही क्यों मारा?
राम ने किसी सिंह,पाठक,अस्थाना,शर्मा,राय,बिष्ट को क्यों नही मारा?
आपका कंप्यूटर घोर जातिवादी है क्या?
क्या आप किसी पार्टी का एजेंडा चला रहे हैं? @rajeshyadavaap का जायज़ सवाल। https://t.co/XzaYVoMCEe

— Sanjay Singh AAP (@SanjayAzadSln) October 25, 2026

UP CEO’s post introduces a communal reference

In response to the controversy surrounding the name, the official X handle (@ceoup) of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Uttar Pradesh, acknowledged that an error had occurred in the electoral roll for a recent Legislative Council election. However, the post went beyond the error itself and referred to both caste and religion.

The post stated that the name “Ram ne Sharma ko maara” (Ram killed Sharma) was an unusual entry in the electoral roll. It said that computers and software were not casteist and acknowledged that a mistake had been made, adding that the error had not discriminated based on caste.

It then said that “the authorities were fortunate that Ram had not killed a person from a minority community; otherwise, they would have been accused of being communal as well as casteist”.

The remark drew criticism because it introduced a reference to a minority community into a discussion about an electoral roll error. The post was published through the official handle of the state’s chief electoral officer, prompting questions about the language used by an election authority.

हालिया विधान परिषद के चुनाव की मतदाता सूची में एक अजीबोगरीब नाम “राम ने शर्मा को मारा” भी है। कंप्यूटर/सॉफ्टवेयर जातिवादी नहीं है। हमारे द्वारा गलती किया जाना स्वीकार है लेकिन हमारे सौभाग्य से गलती होते समय भी जाति का भेदभाव नहीं हुआ है। भगवान का यह भी शुक्र है की राम ने किसी अल्पसंख्यक को नहीं मारा है। नहीं तो जातिवादी होने के साथ-साथ सांप्रदायिक होने का इल्ज़ाम भी लगता।

— CEO Uttar Pradesh (@ceoup) October 25, 2026

CEO says Election Commission has issued instructions

The post spread across social media and drew criticism for the communal reference made from the official handle. The remarks also came amid allegations of targeted deletion of Muslim voters from electoral rolls.

Congress leader Supriya Shrinate questioned who was operating the official handle, writing that the authorities had little credibility left and that the account itself was undermining whatever remained.

Link:

इस हैंडल को कौन चला रहा है @ceoup

वैसे भी कोई खास विश्वसनीयता आप लोगों की बच नहीं है

जो थोड़ा बहुत भ्रम है – वो यह हैंडल अकेले निपटाए दे रहा है!

— Supriya Shrinate (@SupriyaShrinate) October 26, 2026

Responding to her criticism, the CEO Uttar Pradesh handle stated that the “Instructions have been issued by the Election Commission of India to use measured language in every matter and limit communication to facts without unnecessary comments.”

The response did not clarify who had drafted or approved the original post, whether the officials responsible had been identified, or whether any action had been taken. At this stage, the handle had not issued an apology.

प्रत्येक मामले में संयत भाषा का प्रयोग करते हुए बिना अनावश्यक टिप्पणी के केवल तथ्यों तक ही अपनी बात सीमित रखने के निर्देश भारत निर्वाचन आयोग द्वारा दे दिए गए हैं ।

— CEO Uttar Pradesh (@ceoup) October 26, 2026

CEO Uttar Pradesh apologises after criticism

Following the criticism, the CEO Uttar Pradesh handle issued an apology, acknowledging that the language, tone and sharpness of the earlier post were not in keeping with the communication expected from an official account.

The statement said that the anger caused by the remarks had been noted and offered a sincere apology to those who were shocked and upset. It also said that future communication would be restrained and formal.

However, the apology did not clarify who had drafted or approved the original post, whether the officials responsible had been identified, or whether any action had been taken against them.

इस हैंडल के उद्धृत पोस्ट में टिप्पणियों की भाषा के स्तर और भाव और इनकी तीखी प्रकृति इस आधिकारिक हैंडल से अपेक्षित संचार की प्रकृति के अनुरूप नहीं है। पोस्ट में टिप्पणियों से उत्पन्न वास्तविक आक्रोश को अच्छी तरह से नोट किया गया है। हम इससे अचंभित और नाराज़ लोगों से ईमानदारी से माफी मांगते हैं। अब से हमारा संचार शालीन और औपचारिक होगा।

— CEO Uttar Pradesh (@ceoup) October 27, 2026

The original post also remained available on the official handle, with no public explanation for why it had not been removed.

Who is responsible for the post?

The apology and the assurance of more formal communication leave several questions unanswered. Who manages the CEO Uttar Pradesh’s official X handle? Who drafted and authorised the post referring to caste and a minority community? Has the Election Commission identified those responsible, and has any action been taken?

The authorities have also not publicly explained why the original post remains online despite the apology and the criticism it attracted.

The controversy began with questions about discrepancies in the electoral roll. It then shifted to the language used by the state’s chief electoral officer’s official handle. While the apology acknowledged that the post did not meet the standards expected of an official account, it did not address responsibility for its publication.

Will the Election Commission clarify who was responsible for the post and what action, if any, has been taken? Until then, the questions surrounding the official handle remain unanswered.

Related:

SIR Karnataka: Six major ‘conspiracies’ exposed in the final electoral roll

EXCLUSIVE – SIR: The total disenfranchisement of the Indian Voter is 16 crores, not 13.60 Crores?

ECI affidavit says SIR decisions were unanimous, but questions over two commissioners’ objections remain

UP CEO orders voter roll audit after SIR glitches exposed: Can the 2027 election be fair without public scrutiny?

The post UP CEO apologises for minority remark on official X handle, but who is responsible? appeared first on SabrangIndia.

The Final Electoral Roll for SIR-2026 has been published. Electors can download the part-wise electoral roll from the link below:
https://t.co/NN6wc5PKTN

The SIR Booklet is also available at the following link:

https://t.co/SsXh2HjSiZ

#SIR2026
@ECISVEEP https://t.co/7n0qaGtK8g

— Chief Electoral Officer, Karnataka (@ceo_karnataka) October 27, 2026

Final roll adds 8.19 lakh voters to the draft list

The final roll records a net increase of around 8.19 lakh voters compared with the draft list. However, the overall figures do not show how many people whose names were removed at the draft stage were subsequently included in the final roll. They also do not provide a separate count of young and first-time voters added during the revision.

The constituency-wise final electoral rolls are available on the website of the Karnataka Chief Electoral Officer (CEO).

Link: https://voters.eci.gov.in/download-eroll?stateCode=S10

Over 43 lakh names removed in Bengaluru

Bengaluru’s electorate fell from around 1.03 crore voters before the SIR to 59.08 lakh in the final roll, a reduction of more than 43 lakh names. The city had also recorded the highest number of deletions at the draft stage.

Across Karnataka, election officials issued 43,82,824 notices to voters categorised as having “no mapping” with the earlier electoral roll or having “logical discrepancies” in their details. The first category covered voters whose details could not be matched with the earlier roll, while the second covered entries flagged for discrepancies. Hearings on these notices were completed before the final roll was published, according to report on the CEO’s figures.

The reduction in Bengaluru accounts for a substantial share of the overall fall in the state’s electorate. However, the final figures do not establish how many voters removed from the draft list were subsequently included in the final roll.

Over 10 lakh applications received for voter inclusion

Form 6 is used to apply for inclusion in the electoral roll. Between June 16 and October 26, Karnataka received 10,62,336 Form 6 applications, according to figures reported by The Hindu. Of these, 83,806 had been rejected for reasons including applicants already being registered elsewhere, failure to submit documents and other grounds.

The CEO’s office said instructions had been issued to District Electoral Officers (DEOs) to contact applicants whose forms were rejected and include their names if they could be reached and found eligible.

During the claims and objections period, which ended on September 23, more than 7.87 lakh Form 6 applications had been received. Of these, 7.08 lakh were accepted, 76,231 rejected and 3,193 remained pending at the stage covered by the earlier report. The later figures reflect further processing of applications.

The final roll includes more than 6.83 lakh voters aged 18–19 and over 3.92 lakh voters aged above 85. It lists 2,25,83,107 male voters, 2,29,14,063 female voters and 2,841 third-gender voters.

Form 7 applications and allegations over voter deletions

The publication of the final roll follows questions over Form 7 applications, which are used to object to the inclusion of a name or seek its deletion from the electoral roll.

Notably, 61,509 Form 7 applications seeking deletions were filed in the names of election officials, without any reason being mentioned for the proposed deletions. The report said more than 53,000 such applications were filed in the final week of the notice-disposal period. By October 22, a total of 2,28,917 Form 7 applications had reportedly been received during the SIR process.

Officials said that the forms had been generated by software for people marked as ineligible among those issued notices over logical discrepancies or the inability to map their details to the 2002 electoral rolls. The reported absence of reasons in the applications has raised questions about how the deletion requests were generated and processed.

Karnataka Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar had alleged that pre-filled Form 7 applications were being supplied by unidentified agencies and that BJP workers had submitted large numbers of applications seeking voter deletions. He cited 14,000 applications in Vijayapura City, 3,244 in Bhalki, 10,000 in Narasimharaja and 6,250 in Mudigere.

Shivakumar said the Election Commission of India (ECI) should identify those responsible and initiate criminal proceedings. He also said the state government was examining legal options, had asked the Chief Secretary to obtain the relevant data and that FIRs had been registered. He alleged that many of the affected voters belonged to minority, Dalit and backward-class communities. These are allegations made by the Chief Minister.

Karnataka CM Shri @DKShivakumar Ji is showing a bundle of Form 7 applications carrying pre-filled voter details in printed form, used to target and delete the names of Muslims and minorities from the electoral rolls in bulk.

@BJP4India @BJP4Karnataka, why are pre-filled Form 7 applications being used to delete the votes of Muslims and minorities?

We will never allow the Gyanesh-BJP nexus to undermine the electoral rights of the people of Karnataka.

@ECISVEEP

@INCIndia @INCKarnataka

#Form7 #SIR #VoteChori #GyaneshOut

— Dr Syed Naseer Hussain, M P (@NasirHussainINC) October 8, 2026

Kharge alleges ‘Vote Chori’ and questions protection for CEC

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge accused the Election Commission of irregularities in the electoral rolls, alleging that disclosures about the SIR process were exposing what he called “Vote Chori”.

In a post on X, he accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah of trying to suppress the public movement against the alleged irregularities and questioned why they were protecting Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. Kharge said the INDIA bloc would continue its democratic struggle to protect every citizen’s vote and the Constitution.

As more skeletons tumble out of the Election Commission’s cupboard, exposing Vote Chori, Modi-Shah are trying hard to suppress the people’s movement! Why are they protecting CEC Gyanesh Kumar?

This diversionary tactics and bogus propaganda is only discrediting Modi Govt, and tarnishing our Democracy!

INDIA shall continue our democratic struggle to protect every citizen’s vote and our Constitution!

#ChaloDilli

— Mallikarjun Kharge (@kharge) October 27, 2026

Karnataka CEO denies bulk Form 7 filings, says applications were generated for ‘ineligible’ electors

Responding to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge’s criticism of the Election Commission over the SIR process, the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Karnataka clarified on X that election officials had not filed bulk Form 7 applications. The clarification was issued during a press conference on October 27, in connection with the publication of the final electoral roll.

https://t.co/Oohyj77Lew

— Chief Electoral Officer, Karnataka (@ceo_karnataka) October 27, 2026

The CEO said Form 7 applications had been generated for electors marked as “ineligible” during SIR hearings. In such cases, the reason for deletion was recorded as “Others”, while the applicant details appeared as ERO/AERO, depending on the login used to generate the form. The CEO further maintained that no bulk Form 7 applications had been received without a reason for deletion being specified in the application.

Related:

EXCLUSIVE – SIR: The total disenfranchisement of the Indian Voter is 16 crores, not 13.60 Crores?

UP voter lists: Software manipulates Voter’s names, Pilibhit investigation finds 10,470 irregular entries

Who controls access to voter records? ECINet audit raises fresh questions

Vote for Democracy seeks answers from ECI and TCS on ECI’s electoral database access and security

The post Karnataka’s final SIR roll delete electorate by nearly 1 crore; Bengaluru loses over 43 lakh names appeared first on SabrangIndia.

“A Hindu should only buy from a Hindu. We should only do business with Hindus,” Rane declared at the launch of the HARHAR (Hindu Association of Restaurants, Hotels, Aahar & Refreshments) campaign in Jui Nagar. In a video shared on his official X account, he called on Hindus to ensure that the person they traded with was Hindu, presenting this religious test to strengthen a Hindu Rashtra.

आज जुईनगर, नवी मुंबई येथे HARHAR (Hindu Association of Restaurants, Hotels, Aahar & Refreshments) या मोहिमेच्या शुभारंभ सोहळ्यास उपस्थित राहिलो.

हिंदू उद्योजकांना एकत्र आणून त्यांच्या व्यवसायाला आर्थिक बळ, व्यापक बाजारपेठ आणि नवी संधी उपलब्ध करून देणारा हा उपक्रम निश्चितच कौतुकास्पद आहे.

‘हिंदूंकडून खरेदी, हिंदू व्यापाराला प्रोत्साहन’ या संकल्पनेतून हिंदू उद्योजकता, भारतीय खाद्यसंस्कृती आणि स्वावलंबनाला अधिक बळ देऊया.

संघटित हिंदू समाज, सक्षम हिंदू उद्योजक आणि समृद्ध हिंदू अर्थव्यवस्था हेच आपले ध्येय!

HARHAR मोहिमेस मनःपूर्वक शुभेच्छा!

#HARHAR #HinduEntrepreneurs #HinduUnity #स्वावलंबीभारत #NiteshRane

— Nitesh Rane (@NiteshNRane) October 24, 2026

He then directed this call for economic exclusion towards the Nashik Kumbh Mela, demanding that Muslims not be allowed to set up shops at the gathering. His rhetoric escalated into an outright threat: “If Muslims come to the Kumbh Mela, they should not go back on their feet.”

This is not a call for self-reliance. It is a call for exclusion, backed by the threat of violence. A minister advocating that citizens refuse to trade with fellow citizens because of their religion, while warning of physical harm to those who attend a public religious gathering, raises concerns that cannot be brushed aside as political rhetoric or community mobilisation. In a separate video shared by news agency IANS, Rane referred to vandalism in France, claiming that Muslim-owned shops had been spared. He used this account to reinforce his demand that Hindus verify the religious identity of those with whom they conduct business.

“When you buy things, do business, or engage in trade, you must ensure that the person in front of you is a Hindu before moving forward,” he said. He also asserted that a country with a Hindu majority did not need any certificate to be a Hindu Rashtra.

Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra: Minister Nitesh Rane says, “During all those riots and vandalism, the moment they realized a shop belonged to a Muslim, they didn’t break it. They immediately moved to the next shop and continued their vandalism. When you buy things, do business, or engage in trade, you must ensure that the person in front of you is a Hindu before moving forward. That is why I am telling you this. This is how our Hindu Rashtra will be strengthened. In a country where 90% of the population is Hindu, we don’t need any certificate to be a Hindu Rashtra…”

(Source: Nitesh Rane PR Team)

— IANS (@ians_india) October 24, 2026

The logic is stark: Muslims are to be treated not as fellow citizens participating in the economy, but as people from whom Hindus must withdraw their custom, business and trust.

An economic boycott dressed up as entrepreneurship

HARHAR was presented as an initiative to bring Hindu entrepreneurs in the food and hospitality sectors together, expand their markets and strengthen their businesses. There is nothing objectionable about entrepreneurs organising around shared interests, promoting domestic products or preserving food traditions. But these legitimate objectives cannot be used to sanitise a campaign that explicitly calls for Muslims to be excluded from economic life.

As reported by The Free Press Journal, Swami Vigyananand, joint general secretary of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and founder of the World Hindu Foundation, identified food imports, the alleged dominance of Muslims in certain sectors and the popularity of foreign brands as obstacles to creating a Hindu food ecosystem. Restaurateur Sachin Shetty spoke of building a network of Hindu entrepreneurs and restoring Hindu dominance in the fruit supply chain. Although Shetty reportedly clarified that he did not want Muslim traders thrown out, the language of restoring religious dominance sits uneasily alongside the stated aim of building an inclusive and prosperous economy.

Rane, however, left little room for ambiguity. Hindu traders, he insisted, should sell only to Hindus, while Hindu consumers should purchase only from Hindu shopkeepers, including during Diwali. The issue is not whether Hindu businesses deserve support; they do. The issue is why that support must be built on the exclusion of Muslims.

Economic self-reliance is about strengthening domestic production, supporting small enterprises, improving supply chains and creating livelihoods. A religious boycott does none of this by definition. It instead seeks to turn everyday transactions into tests of religious loyalty, casting Muslim traders as people whose businesses should be avoided simply because they are Muslim.

Rane also invoked allegations of “love jihad”, “land jihad”, “halal jihad” and “corporate jihad”, claiming that money earned through business with Muslims was being used for “jihad” against Hindus. He urged people to stop buying from Muslims and portrayed ordinary commercial relationships as a potential source of danger. These sweeping allegations were offered as justification for collective economic punishment, without credible evidence presented at the gathering to establish the claims.

 

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The consequence of this rhetoric is to transform an ordinary act of buying or selling into a communal choice. A trader’s religion becomes a reason to distrust them; a customer’s religion becomes a condition for serving them. The economic boycott is presented as solidarity, while the people targeted by it are made to bear the cost of that solidarity.

When exclusion becomes a political objective

The demand to exclude Muslim vendors from the Nashik Kumbh Mela makes the stakes even clearer. Organisers and authorities may establish rules for licensing, sanitation, safety and the management of commercial spaces. But demanding a blanket ban on Muslim traders because of their religion raises fundamental questions about equal treatment and the right to earn a livelihood.

The threat that Muslims attending the Kumbh Mela should not return on their feet is especially grave. It goes beyond advocating a boycott or expressing hostility. It invokes physical violence against people based on religious identity. Coming from a serving minister, such language demands public scrutiny rather than being dismissed as a provocative flourish.

The constitutional implications are equally important. Articles 14 and 15 of the Constitution establish guarantees of equality before the law and protection against state discrimination on grounds including religion. Their application to specific private transactions or the rules governing a particular religious gathering depends on the circumstances. But the larger democratic principle is unmistakable: religious identity cannot be turned into a general licence to threaten citizens or demand their exclusion from public life.

What is being advanced in the name of Hindu entrepreneurship is a much more consequential proposition: that Hindus should withdraw economic support from Muslims, that Muslim traders should be excluded from a major religious gathering, and that Muslims who attend should face intimidation. This is not simply a debate about food culture or domestic industry. It is a demand to organise economic and public life along religious lines.

The question raised by Rane’s remarks is not whether Hindus should support Hindu entrepreneurs. It is whether that support should be weaponised into a campaign against Muslim livelihoods and accompanied by threats of violence. In a constitutional democracy, the answer must begin with a basic principle: no citizen should have to fear exclusion from economic life, or threats to their physical safety, because of their religion.

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The post Economic Boycott as Hindu Solidarity: BJP leader Nitesh Rane calls for Muslims to be shut out appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Giving a six-part breakdown, the author argues that the final, post-SIR electoral roll has ensured the deletion of not just 99.3 lakh voters as has been admitted, this includes 75 lakhs of voters in the “shifted” and “absent” category; hence 99.3 lakhs plus another possible 27 lakhs by a gross under-representation of the elector-population ratio (EPR); roughly this means that the deletions swell to an approximate 1.26 crore voter deletions in total that is a staggering 18 per cent of the state’s electorate

Six major issues exposed Karnataka’s Final Electoral Roll:

1. One Crore Voters Deleted!

According to the final electoral roll, nearly one crore voters (99.3 lakh) have been excluded in Karnataka. Compared with the deletion figures of India’s 24 major states, this is the highest number of deletions in the country. Except for the small state of Arunachal Pradesh, where 22% of voters were ultimately deleted, Karnataka has witnessed the highest percentage of exclusion, with 18% of its voters removed from the electoral rolls.

2. How Many “Illegal Immigrants/Foreign Voters” finally detected?

This was the biggest pretext advanced by the Election Commission and the Modi Government to justify conducting SIR. Their argument, hysterically made at political rallies, was that “lakhs … of illegal immigrants from Bangladesh were infiltrating India”, posing a serious threat to national security. Through the hurriedly launched SIR process –that has been widely exposed as being both unlawful and unconstitutional– these infiltrators would purportedly be identified, their names deleted from the electoral rolls, and they would be “expelled” from the country. The argument advanced was that, therefore, SIR was necessary for national security, and so on.

As part of this propaganda, the BJP and the Sangh Parivar claimed that Karnataka, particularly Bengaluru, had 10-25 lakh Bangladeshi infiltrators and that SIR was necessary to identify them! [1]At the initial stages, even Congress leader and then Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar lent his voice to this campaign. If these claims were valid, how many “Bangladeshi infiltrators” were actually detected in Karnataka after the completion of SIR? Ironically, the official details released by the Chief Electoral Officer of Karnataka contain absolutely no information on this matter, which was supposedly so crucial to national security. Read the final categorisation here.^[2]

In addition, according to most newspaper reports published today, October 28 (the day after the final post-SIR list was published), the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Anbu Kumar, responding orally to a question, categorically stated that the number of foreign nationals detected was fewer than one thousand.

According to the front-page report in Prajavani, a total of 771 foreign nationals were identified in Karnataka, of whom 685 were Nepalis! In Bengaluru North district alone, 580 foreign nationals were identified, of whom 542 were Nepalis. Apart from Nepalis, the other foreign nationals detected were primarily citizens of the United States, Canada, Australia and other Western countries.

Then how many infiltrators from Bangladesh and Pakistan were actually detected?

According to documents obtained from informed sources, only one Bangladeshi national and one Pakistani national were detected, both in Uttara Kannada district. This makes two things abundantly clear. First, the malicious propaganda of the Sangh Parivar was false.

Second, the Modi Government had devised the conspiracy of SIR under the pretext of identifying foreign infiltrators, while its real objective was to deprive Dalits, oppressed communities and the indigenous people of this country who do not vote for the BJP of their voting rights.

There are two more important reasons for arriving at this conclusion.

In its judgment on SIR delivered on May 27, the Supreme Court directed states where the SIR process had been completed to submit lists of suspected foreign nationals identified during the exercise to the “Competent Authority” under the Ministry of Home Affairs within four weeks. Not merely four weeks, but five months have now passed since that judgment. Even before the Supreme Court delivered its judgment, SIR had already been completed in 13 states.

Shouldn’t these states, therefore, have submitted their respective lists of identified foreign infiltrators to the Competent Authority of the Ministry of Home Affairs by the end of June?

In August itself, CHRI Director Venkatesh and RTI activist Anjali Bhardwaj filed applications under the Right to Information Act seeking this information from the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Election Commission. In the MHA reply in October, the Ministry of Home Affairs stated that it had neither information about the “Competent Authority” nor any list of suspected foreign nationals. The Election Commission, on its part, replied that it had no report showing how many suspected foreign nationals had been identified through SIR in different states.[3]

Doesn’t this establish that both the propaganda about foreign infiltrators and SIR itself were part of a maliciously designed project of the Sangh Parivar? For this reason too, SIR must be completely abolished. Those responsible for it must face severe punishment.

3. Higher Deletions in Constituencies with Large Backward-Class, Muslim, Dalit and Adivasi Populations

In Bengaluru, every second voter has been excluded. Outside Bengaluru, Assembly constituencies in districts such as Mysuru, Belagavi, Vijayapura, Kalaburagi and Bidar, which have substantial Muslim, Backward Class, Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe populations, have witnessed deletions higher than the state average. In these constituencies, 20–30% of voters have been removed from the electoral rolls.

Across Karnataka, more than 10% of voters have been deleted in 135 Assembly constituencies. In approximately 32 constituencies, deletions exceed 30%.

4. The “Great Lie” of Re-Enrolment Through Form 6

The Election Commission had repeatedly boasted that it would conduct special campaigns during the claims and objections period to enable eligible voters whose names were missing from the draft electoral roll to get themselves re-enrolled. But the final electoral roll makes it clear that all these claims were false and that the campaigns were virtually ineffective. As many as 1.08 crore voters had been excluded from the draft electoral roll. Thereafter, a two-month period was provided for submitting claims. The Election Commission also claimed that it had conducted two special enrolment campaigns. Yet, in the final electoral roll, 99.32 lakh voters remain excluded. This means that only around eight lakh voters were added. Even this figure includes newly eligible voters who had attained the age of 18.

The Election Commission has not provided a separate breakdown showing how many voters who were deleted from the draft roll were subsequently re-enrolled through Form 6. Therefore, the claim that re-enrolment of excluded voters through Form 6 has been successful is a monumental falsehood.

5. The Election Commission has no programme to re-enrol 75 Lakh eligible voters excluded from the Final Electoral Roll!

According to the final electoral roll, among the 99.32 lakh excluded voters, 16.41 lakh have been classified as deceased and 7.1 lakh as duplicate entries. Even the number classified as deceased is exaggerated. Karnataka’s average annual number of deaths is around four lakhs. The number of voters classified as deceased is four times that figure! Moreover, several instances have been reported in which living persons were falsely recorded as dead. Even if we give the Election Commission the benefit of the doubt and accept that these people were genuinely ineligible for inclusion in the electoral rolls, what remains?

According to the final electoral roll itself, approximately 65.4 lakh voters have been classified as Permanently Shifted, while another 19 lakhs were recorded as Absent when Booth Level Officers (BLOs) visited their residences. In other words, these two categories—Absent and Permanently Shifted—together account for around 75 lakh voters.

Even according to the Election Commission’s own classification, all these people are eligible voters. They are not dead. They are not duplicate entries. They are not foreigners. The responsibility for including these voters in the electoral rolls rests with the Election Commission, not with the people who have been excluded.

Instead, the Election Commission is acting unconstitutionally by asking these voters to fill out Form 6 and apply for re-enrolment, thereby shifting the responsibility for inclusion onto the very victims of SIR. Worse still, the Form 6 requires a false declaration from every excluded voter stating that they are “first-time” voters or voters that have never voted before!

Under Articles 324–326 of the Constitution, the Duty to Include Eligible Voters Rests with the Election Commission, Not with the Voters! A large majority of these excluded voters are migrant workers, illiterate people and those who are completely unaware of the SIR process itself. That is precisely why, although 1.08 crore voters were excluded from the draft electoral roll, only a few lakhs were able to come forward and seek re-enrolment during the claims period.

The figures in the final electoral roll themselves prove this. Even at yesterday’s press conference, the Election Commission did not announce any programme to trace and re-enrol these 75 lakh eligible voters. Nor is the Commission capable of accomplishing this through the present process. Therefore, the SIR process, which excludes eligible voters, must be abolished in its entirety.

The earlier SSR (Special Summary Revision) system must be restored.

6. Finally, why Has Karnataka’s Elector-Population Ratio (EPR) Declined?

Generally, the proportion of adults aged 18 and above in a state or country, and the proportion of registered voters in its population, provide an indication of how effectively eligible voters are being enrolled. The higher this ratio, the healthier the voter-registration process is. For example, if a state has a population of 100 people, of whom 70 are aged 18 or above, the proportion of registered voters should also be somewhere around 70%.

In India, the average Elector-Population Ratio is around 65%, whereas in Karnataka it stood at 70.1% in 2025.[4] However now, post SIR, Karnataka’s EPR has fallen from 70.1% to 66%. When compared with the estimated population of 6.87 crore provided by the Election Commission itself, this represents the disappearance of approximately 4% of the state’s voters!

In other words, through this decline alone, the Election Commission has made 27 lakh voters vanish! If it is true that India’s population is increasing year after year, then the number of adults should also increase every year. Consequently, the number of registered voters should increase from year to year rather than decline.

But SIR seems to insist that even when the population increases, and even when the adult population increases, the number of registered voters must decline!  For this reason, too, SIR is profoundly unscientific and must be abolished immediately.

SIR is ill-conceived, motivated, unscientific and undemocratic!

For all these five reasons, Karnataka’s final SIR electoral roll proves that SIR itself is a conspiratorial, unscientific and undemocratic exercise. Such a process “cannot be reformed”.

Hence these demands must remain:

–SIR must be scrapped immediately

– All those responsible for the Karnataka exercise including CED Gyanesh Kumar must be punished

–There must be a public debate on the Judiciary’s role as Constitutional Courts, including the Supreme Court, are accountable to the people of India

-The entire electoral process including the preparation and revision of electoral rolls must be democratised!

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQnSBVGZy-k;

[2]https://ceo.karnataka.gov.in/uploads/PDF%20FINAL%20AC%20WISE%2027_1793094730.pdf

[3] https://thewire.in/rights/rti-reveals-in-sir-purging-of-ineligibles-from-the-voter-lists-might-be-a-bogey

[4] https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/karnataka/elector-population-ratio-in-the-electoral-roll-points-to-decline-in-birth-rate-and-migration/article69701946.ece

Disclaimer: The views expressed here are the author’s personal views, and do not necessarily represent the views of Sabrangindia.

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The post SIR Karnataka: Six major ‘conspiracies’ exposed in the final electoral roll appeared first on SabrangIndia.

The statement forms part of the ECI’s counter-affidavit in a petition filed by Rakesh Kumar Singh, which challenges the functioning of the CEC and the legality of certain Commission decisions. The affidavit, filed by Deputy Election Commissioner Bhanu Prakash Yeturu, says the SIR orders dated June 24, 2025, October 27, 2025, and May 14, 2026, were unanimous. It was approved by all three members.

The Commission has questioned the petition’s reliance on a newspaper report, arguing that the petitioner did not independently verify the allegations. It has also said that it neither released nor authorised the release of internal notes or files to the media.

However, the concerns raised in The Indian Express investigation, published on October 27, go beyond whether the Commission formally approved its decisions. The report documented 14 notes recorded by Sandhu and Joshi over 10 months. Many concerned actions that had already been taken, systems that had been developed or proceedings that had been initiated before the two Commissioners recorded that they had not been informed.

Also, you can read our investigation here:
1. https://t.co/Ous0b5lD98
2. https://t.co/SrJbWUC9OM
3. https://t.co/PGpsT3x7ci
4. https://t.co/pFfaB1Wc5Y
5. https://t.co/ZBf8dSCt6F
(9/10)

— Ritika Chopra (@RitikaChopra__) October 27, 2026

The affidavit explains how the ECI says decisions should be taken. It does not fully explain why the two Commissioners repeatedly recorded that they learnt about important developments after they had occurred.

ECI’s explanation does not resolve concerns over consultation

The Commission has argued that notes, queries, suggestions and observations recorded by individual Commissioners during file processing are not, by themselves, decisions of the ECI.

It says files ordinarily pass from one Election Commissioner to the other before reaching the CEC. The affidavit relies on Section 18 of the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Act, 2023, which provides for decisions to be taken unanimously as far as practicable and by majority where unanimity is not possible.

But the timing of the notes remains central to the dispute. As reported by The Indian Express, the two Commissioners were often recording their concerns after a decision had been implemented or an official action had already taken place.

The question, therefore, is not simply whether the final orders carried the Commission’s approval. It is whether all three members were adequately informed and involved before the decisions were put into effect. The affidavit does not provide a detailed explanation for the instances in which Sandhu and Joshi said they had been left out of the process.

Form 6 was not amended, says ECI, but who introduced the online declaration?

The dispute over Form 6 illustrates the gap between the Commission’s legal explanation and the questions about how the changes were implemented.

Form 6 is used by citizens to apply for inclusion in electoral rolls. In May, Joshi recorded that the form could not be changed without an amendment to the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960. Sandhu agreed. Despite these objections, the online version of Form 6 was changed in July to include a declaration requiring applicants to provide details linking themselves, their parents or grandparents to earlier intensive electoral rolls.

According to The Indian Express, Sandhu learnt about the change through a newspaper report. In August, he described the declaration inserted into the online form as “unauthorised/ illegal”.

The ECI has now said that the declaration was a separate document introduced for the SIR and did not amount to an amendment of the statutory form. It has also maintained that only the Central Government can amend the form prescribed under the 1960 Rules.

At the same time, the affidavit acknowledges that the way the declaration appeared on the online application platform could give the impression that Form 6 had been amended. It further says that certain steps taken by officials needed to be corrected.

On October 21, the Commission’s Electoral Rolls Division decided to separate the online application into two components: Form 6 and the SIR declaration. This brings the online process in line with the procedure followed for physical applications.

The correction addresses how the two documents are presented. But the affidavit does not identify who authorised the declaration’s insertion into Form 6 in July or explain why it was implemented after two Commissioners had recorded objections. It says the declaration was entered on the online page of Form 6 but does not name the official responsible.

ECINet: Formal authority rests with EROs, but earlier software concerns remain

The ECI has defended ECINet, the platform used for electoral roll-related work, by stressing that the Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) remains the statutory authority. According to the affidavit, no name can be added to, deleted from or modified in the electoral roll without an order from the competent ERO.

The Commission has also said that an expert committee comprising members from IIT Madras and IISc Bengaluru has been constituted to examine the platform’s compliance with applicable requirements. It has referred to arrangements for scrutinising new information technology modules before they are approved.

However, the measures now described in the affidavit resemble a proposal Joshi made on May 29. He had raised concerns about the gradual centralisation of the electoral roll database and sought an outside expert’s involvement to verify that only the relevant statutory authorities could make changes to it. Sandhu endorsed the proposal in July.

On August 14, Sandhu recorded that he did not know what had happened to the two notes. The affidavit identifies September 26 and 30 as the dates of the Commission’s decisions on the committee but does not mention the earlier proposal.

Other concerns recorded by the Commissioners also remain unanswered. In April, Sandhu noted that the IT division had developed several modules and portals without bringing them before the Commission. He said he had learnt about them through the media. In August, he recorded complaints from field officers who said the system did not allow them to perform functions required by law.

The affidavit’s assurance that the ERO remains legally responsible does not establish whether the software enabled officers to carry out their statutory duties when these concerns were raised.

Goa deletions: Subsequent applications do not explain why officers could not reverse them

The affidavit refers to 97 voters who were left off Goa’s final electoral roll and says that 88 have since applied for inclusion through Form 6.

But this does not explain the earlier failure of the software to allow Electoral Registration Officers in Goa to implement decisions reversing the deletions.

The state’s election office made eight requests over seven days in February for the system to permit the deletions to be reversed. A Deputy Election Commissioner had also recorded that the “IT system cannot block necessary action.”

The affidavit does not explain why the software prevented the required action or how the requests were handled at the time. The fact that 88 voters subsequently applied again does not answer why the earlier decisions could not be implemented through the system.

West Bengal appeals: Who authorised the filings, and how were so many cases handled?

The affidavit states that appeals against orders restoring voters to the electoral roll in West Bengal were filed by officers in the office of the state’s Chief Electoral Officer (CEO). It says the matters were not brought to the Commission and argues that the officers had authority to file the appeals under the Supreme Court’s orders.

How the appeals were handled and who knew about them

On August 7, after a newspaper report about the appeals, Joshi’s office sought the factual position from the officer in charge of the state. Five days later, Sandhu put five questions to the same officer. His note recorded that Joshi had told him he did not have the details.

The affidavit identifies the officers who filed the appeals and says they had the authority to do so under the Supreme Court’s orders. But it does not reconcile this explanation with Sandhu’s note recording that the West Bengal CEO had also said she did not have information about the details of the matter.

The affidavit now cites a letter from the CEO’s office dated October 22 to establish that officers from that office filed the appeals. It does not explain the apparent gap between the earlier account and this later clarification.

There are further unanswered questions. The affidavit does not explain how lakhs of appeals came to be filed on nearly identical grounds, whether the cases were examined individually or how proceedings on this scale moved forward without the Commission being informed. The circumstances also remain unclear given the CEO’s earlier statement, recorded by Sandhu, that she lacked the details.

July administrative order: ECI says it was not implemented

Another issue concerns an order issued in July by a senior officer who had been given temporary charge of the Commission’s administration. The order redistributed work among ECI officers.

Joshi wrote to the Cabinet Secretary that the Administration Division did not provide him with the file when he sought it. The ECI says the order was never implemented after Sandhu and Joshi issued a joint direction. It adds that the two Commissioners’ letters related to this order.

However, the affidavit does not explain why the order was issued without the Commission’s involvement, why the file was not provided to a member of the Commission or what happened to the officer who issued it. The Commission’s explanation addresses the order’s eventual non-implementation but leaves the circumstances surrounding its issuance and the withholding of the file unresolved.

ECI disputes the release of internal files

The Commission has stated that it did not release or authorise the release of any internal note or file to a news agency. This contests how the documents reached the media, rather than answering the concerns recorded in them.

The affidavit also opposes the plea seeking to restrain Gyanesh Kumar from functioning as CEC. Relying on Article 324(5) of the Constitution, the ECI says the CEC can be removed only in the same manner and on the same grounds as a Supreme Court judge. It has also referred to the Supreme Court’s earlier consideration of challenges to the credibility of Electronic Voting Machines.

The Commission described its affidavit as a short response filed because of the intervening Dussehra holidays and reserved the right to submit a detailed, paragraph-wise counter.

Supreme Court to examine the Commission’s explanation

The ECI’s affidavit sets out its position on three central issues: the unanimity of SIR decisions, the legal status of the declaration accompanying Form 6, and the ERO’s authority over electoral roll changes. It also identifies corrective measures, including separating Form 6 from the SIR declaration online and establishing an expert committee to examine ECINet.

But several specific questions raised by Sandhu and Joshi remain unanswered. These concern the implementation of the online declaration, the software’s failure to permit action in Goa, the handling of appeals in West Bengal, the administrative order issued in July and the repeated instances in which the Commissioners said they were not informed of developments.

The affidavit’s claim that the final decisions were unanimous does not, by itself, settle whether the decision-making process worked as it should have. Nor do the corrective measures fully explain how the earlier problems arose.

On October 5, the Supreme Court declined to suspend Gyanesh Kumar through an ex-parte interim order while issuing notice on the petition. The bench said it would examine the decisions and take appropriate action if they were found incompatible with the law.

The Court’s examination will now determine whether the Commission’s explanations adequately address the concerns about consultation, access to information and the implementation of decisions during the SIR exercise.

The controversial ECI affidavit may be read here.

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The post ECI affidavit says SIR decisions were unanimous, but questions over two commissioners’ objections remain appeared first on SabrangIndia.

That the instructions covering Forms 6, 7 and 8 across the state’s 403 Assembly constituencies. Form 6 concerns registration of new voters, Form 7 objections to inclusion or deletion, and Form 8 corrections and other specified changes.

What the statewide audit will examine

According to the Hindustan Times, as per instructions the election officials must scrutinise additions, deletions and amendments entered by computer assistants after April 10. It reported that the ECI had not released a consolidated account of the names added or deleted during this period.

The moot question that remains, however, is whether the audit trail –of who filed which form applications, who scrutinised and took what decisions (Vis a Vis Forms 6, 7 and 8) will be made public? More pertinently will there be a prosecution of the officials involved?

At an October 24 virtual meeting, Rinwa directed divisional commissioners, designated electoral roll observers, to supervise the work. District election officers must oversee the officials preparing the rolls.

Computer assistants have been barred from entering applications received physically. Booth Level Officers (BLOs) must digitise them through the BLO App, while the original documents must be preserved. Electoral Registration Officers have been instructed to review pending Forms 6, 7 and 8 daily. There is silence from the poll body however on whether they will be made public as the law demands!

“All entries must be verified to prevent a recurrence of a Pilibhit incident,” Rinwa said, according to the report. He also directed officials to ensure that the draft roll for the forthcoming Special Summary Revision was free of duplicate entries.

The instructions include protecting ERONET login credentials, changing passwords and addressing complaints received since April 10 through grievance portals, social media and other channels. District election officers in Bulandshahr, Sitapur, Ghaziabad and Aligarh were criticised for delayed reports on alleged duplicate voters.

However, the Commission also issued a November 12 deadline for publication of the forthcoming draft roll. Requests under the “Book a Call with BLO” service must not remain pending beyond 48 hours, and BLOs must contact voters before marking themselves unavailable.

Pilibhit: 10,470 approved changes found irregular

The immediate concern is Pilibhit, where an inquiry found irregularities in 10,470 approved changes to voter records after publication of the final SIR roll.

An FIR was registered on October 22 against two Electoral Registration Officers and a computer operator. The case concerns 13,779 Form 8 entries made between May 31 and August 29, 10,470 were approved and 3,309 rejected. No corresponding application forms or supporting records were found in the office.

“This is not an error or negligence. This is a crime. It was done deliberately,” Rinwa told The Times of India.

That the FIR invoked Section 32 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, and Section 201 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. Rinwa said the operator entered applications without receiving them from voters and the officers approved them. These are the authorities’ findings and allegations underlying the proceedings; criminal responsibility remains for the legal process to determine.

Officials and applicants face different provisions

Rinwa has warned that Electoral Registration Officers, Assistant Electoral Registration Officers and computer assistants could face action under Section 32 for irregularities. District election officers could also be held responsible for inadequate supervision, according to the audit reports.

Separately, the CEO’s office issued an October 17 statement on Form 7, warning against knowingly false statements or declarations. It cited Section 31 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, which provides for imprisonment of up to one year, a fine, or both.

कार्यालय मुख्य निर्वाचन अधिकारी, उत्तर प्रदेश

(प्रेस विज्ञप्ति)

फार्म-7 में जानबूझकर झूठा कथन या मिथ्या घोषणा करने पर एक वर्ष तक के कारावास अथवा जुर्माने या दोनों से दंडित करने का प्रावधान

लखनऊ, 17 अक्टूबर, 2026

प्रदेश के समस्त जिला निर्वाचन अधिकारियों एवं निर्वाचक रजिस्ट्रीकरण अधिकारियों को फार्म-7 के माध्यम से दाखिल किए जाने वाले आवेदनों के संबंध में भारत निर्वाचन आयोग द्वारा जारी दिशा-निर्देशों का कड़ाई से अनुपालन सुनिश्चित करने के निर्देश दिए गए हैं।

लोक प्रतिनिधित्व अधिनियम, 1950 की धारा-31 के अनुसार मतदाता सूची की तैयारी, पुनरीक्षण अथवा शुद्धि या किसी प्रविष्टि को मतदाता सूची में शामिल करने अथवा हटाने के संबंध में जानबूझकर मिथ्या कथन या घोषणा लिखित रूप में करना दंडनीय अपराध है। इसके लिए दोषी व्यक्ति को एक वर्ष तक के कारावास अथवा जुर्माने या दोनों से दंडित किए जाने का प्रावधान है।

फार्म-7 में भी आवेदक से इस संबंध में निर्धारित घोषणा प्राप्त की जाती है। यदि निर्वाचक रजिस्ट्रीकरण अधिकारी की जांच में फार्म-7 के माध्यम से की गई आपत्ति मिथ्या पाई जाती है, तो संबंधित आवेदक के विरुद्ध लोक प्रतिनिधित्व अधिनियम, 1950 की धारा-31 के अंतर्गत नियमानुसार कार्रवाई की जाएगी।

भारत निर्वाचन आयोग के दिनांक 09 अक्टूबर, 2026 के निर्देशों के क्रम में सभी संबंधित अधिकारियों को निर्देशित किया गया है कि फार्म-7 के माध्यम से प्राप्त आपत्तियों की जाँच एवं निस्तारण नियमानुसार किया जाए तथा मिथ्या या मनगढ़ंत आपत्ति पाए जाने पर विधिक प्रावधानों के अनुरूप कार्रवाई सुनिश्चित की जाए।

यह भी निर्देश दिए गए हैं कि इन विधिक प्रावधानों एवं आयोग के दिशा-निर्देशों का प्रिंट मीडिया, इलेक्ट्रॉनिक मीडिया, सोशल मीडिया तथा अन्य माध्यमों से व्यापक प्रचार-प्रसार किया जाए, ताकि आमजन को फार्म-7 दाखिल करते समय सही एवं तथ्यपरक जानकारी देने तथा मिथ्या घोषणा करने के विधिक परिणामों के प्रति जागरूक किया जा सके।
@ECISVEEP
@SpokespersonECI
@ANINewsUP
@PTI_News
@ians_india
@DDNewsUP
@AIRNewsHindi

— CEO Uttar Pradesh (@ceoup) October 17, 2026

The statement directed officials to investigate objections according to the rules and act against false or fabricated claims. The two provisions concern different conduct: knowingly false declarations by applicants and breaches of official duty connected with electoral rolls.

Why close election margins matter

An October 25 analysis by Omar Rashid in The Wire explains the electoral significance of these discrepancies. Pilibhit’s 10,470 irregular entries exceed the BJP’s 2022 victory margin there of 6,970 votes.

Rashid found that 43 of the 100 constituencies flagged by the Samajwadi Party included seats the party narrowly won or lost in 2022. Across Uttar Pradesh, 170 seats were decided by margins of 15,000 votes or fewer; 124 had margins below 10,000, and 53 below 5,000.

Samajwadi Party has identified 100 seats where lakhs of duplicate voters–with a voter registered twice, thrice, and even 5 times–exist.

How many of these seats did the SP/BJP win or lose by a thin margin in 2022?

To know more, read my story

https://t.co/5DJYSdP9cK https://t.co/eW09GaKaye

— Omar Rashid (@omar7rashid) October 25, 2026

Survey predictions cannot answer questions about the rolls

An analysis attributed to NDTV in a circulating social media post places the Samajwadi Party ahead in 183 Assembly segments, Congress in 40 and the BJP in 162, based on Uttar Pradesh’s 2024 Lok Sabha voting patterns. The post presents the combined SP–Congress tally of 223, above the Assembly majority mark of 202, as an encouraging sign for the alliance ahead of 2027.

This is a breakdown of past results rather than a fresh opinion survey.

Co-Convenor, Vote for Democracy, Teesta Setalvad has been questioning whether the UP Vidhan Sabha polls, or any polls post the exposes of past months can be held on the faulty SIR list at all. VFD has argued that not only must the SIR be scrapped but there must be a reversion to the 2024 Lok Sabha Rolls along with the First-Time Voter enrolment post 2024.

Wait. This could be a ploy to shift demands away from #ScrapSIR and #Revertto2024 Rolls. There is NO WAY @yadavakhilesh @samajwadiparty can win on these rolls. Remember #WestBengal. NEVER FORGET WHO OWNS #NDTV @RahulGandhi

— Teesta Setalvad (@TeestaSetalvad) October 25, 2026

Congress and SP seek wider scrutiny

Congress raised the Pilibhit issue on October 21, alleging that the names of 13,150 voters had changed while their EPIC and serial numbers remained unchanged. That allegation must be distinguished from the subsequent official finding concerning 10,470 irregular approved Form 8 entries. Congress leaders sought an investigation into the SIR process and warned that mismatched identities could prevent otherwise eligible voters from exercising their franchise.

The Samajwadi Party has also submitted complaints about duplicate registrations and voter identity mismatches. In Azamgarh, an official inquiry found the name “Vikas Yadav” recorded at 13 places in Hindi in the electoral roll, following complaints raised by the party. Action was initiated against electoral officials. That finding should not be presented as proof that one person cast 13 votes, as The Wire reported.

Agra re-poll follows complaints about MLC voting

Separate concerns arose during the October 23 Legislative Council elections. SP state president Shyam Lal Pal sought action over alleged booth capturing and irregularities in Amroha, Agra, Fatehpur, Pratapgarh, Gorakhpur and other districts.

Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh: On the recommendation for repolling at three polling booths following the Uttar Pradesh MLC election in the Agra, Uttar Pradesh Chief Electoral Officer Navdeep Rinwa says, “The Returning Officer has recommended repolling at three polling booths, Saiyan, Fatehabad and Kheragarh. We have sent the recommendation to the Election Commission. We will proceed according to the Commission’s decision. When the candidates’ video surfaced, we personally spoke to them and asked about their concerns. They had submitted the names of five polling booths in writing, and we got all of them investigated. During the investigation, three polling stations were found to have grounds for a possible repoll, while the other two did not…”

— IANS (@ians_india) October 24, 2026

The party demanded examination of polling-station videos, fresh voting were warranted and FIRs against those responsible. It alleged that ruling-party representatives influenced voting and that earlier complaints had not received adequate action. These remain party allegations.

The ECI subsequently declared polling at three stations—20, 21 and 26—in the Agra Division Teachers’ Constituency void, fixing October 26 for fresh voting between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. The stations were at Kheragarh, Saiya and Fatehabad. SP candidate Akash Agarwal had alleged harassment of supporters and irregularities during voting.

‘Thank god Ram didn’t hit a minority’: UP CEO’s communal reply

Uttar Pradesh Chief Electoral Officer (CEO)’s official X handle on October 16, sarcastic response to errors in voter slips has triggered a political controversy, with question over the impartiality and conduct of the state’s top election official through official social media handle.

The controversy began after a voter’s name, “Ramhit Yadav”, was incorrectly rendered as “Ram ne Yadav ko Maara” in the electoral records.

The CEO acknowledged the mistake and cited another incorrect entry, “Ram ne Sharma ko Maara”, in the voter list for recent Legislative Council elections. However, his remark that it was fortunate that “Ram did not hit a minority”,

हालिया विधान परिषद के चुनाव की मतदाता सूची में एक अजीबोगरीब नाम “राम ने शर्मा को मारा” भी है। कंप्यूटर/सॉफ्टवेयर जातिवादी नहीं है। हमारे द्वारा गलती किया जाना स्वीकार है लेकिन हमारे सौभाग्य से गलती होते समय भी जाति का भेदभाव नहीं हुआ है। भगवान का यह भी शुक्र है की राम ने किसी अल्पसंख्यक को नहीं मारा है। नहीं तो जातिवादी होने के साथ-साथ सांप्रदायिक होने का इल्ज़ाम भी लगता।

— CEO Uttar Pradesh (@ceoup) October 25, 2026

AAP questions CEO’s conduct and electoral impartiality

Reacting to the CEO’s remarks, Sanjay Singh called his language deeply communal and questioned whether free and fair elections could be conducted in Uttar Pradesh under an official making such statements. Singh announced that AAP would respond to the CEO at a press conference at 3 p.m. at the party’s office. He also alleged that the Election Commission’s handling of voter-list errors raised serious concerns and said the party would not allow alleged attempts to manipulate electoral rolls to help the BJP succeed. These are allegations made by Singh; the controversy over the erroneous entries, by itself, does not establish that the voter list was manipulated to favour any political party.

AAP कार्यालय पर आज 3 बजे प्रेस वार्ता कर CEO का जवाब देंगे।
CEO उत्तर प्रदेश की भाषा एक चिरकुट घोर सांप्रदायिक व्यक्ति की भाषा है।
क्या ऐसे व्यक्ति के रहते हुए यू पी में निष्पक्ष चुनाव संभव है?
CEO जी वोटर लिस्ट में हेर फेर करके BJP को चुनाव जीताने की मंशा सफल नही होने देंगे।

— Sanjay Singh AAP (@SanjayAzadSln) October 26, 2026

However, while the state-wide audit is an important step, this course correction has clearly happened under compulsion. UP’s State Election Commission must go beyond internal checks. With irregularities reported in voter records and complaints raised by opposition parties, the Election Commission must ensure that every addition, deletion and correction is properly verified and that the findings are made public.

Electoral Rolls too need to be the pre-SIR ones. Public confidence in the 2027 Uttar Pradesh Assembly election will depend on a transparent process that protects every eligible voter’s right to vote.

Related:

UP voter lists: Software manipulates Voter’s names, Pilibhit investigation finds 10,470 irregular entries

Who controls access to voter records? ECINet audit raises fresh questions

Vote for Democracy seeks answers from ECI and TCS on ECI’s electoral database access and security

The post UP CEO orders voter roll audit after SIR glitches exposed: Can the 2027 election be fair without public scrutiny? appeared first on SabrangIndia.

How the ECI illegally disfranchised the voting rights of 16 crore Indians

The Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls raises a question that extends beyond the number of names deleted: how many electors should have been on the rolls when the exercise began? A comparison must account for those registered during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and those who became eligible (turned 18 years) in 2025 and 2026.

The calculation presented here places the number affected at approximately 16 crore, not 13.60 crores, as is widely estimated and understood. This calculation combines 11.80 crore in reductions and draft exclusions across three SIR phases with an estimated additional shortfall of above 4 crore voters. This is the basis of the allegation of large-scale disenfranchisement. However, (it must be noted) that the additional shortfall remains an estimate, and the figures combine different stages of revision.

The electorate covered by SIR

According to the supplied figures, the three phases of SIR began with a combined electorate of approximately 95.63 crore. Four jurisdictions—Assam, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh—are identified as outside this SIR calculation.

Their respective electorates are listed as 2,45,72,114 in Assam, 57,11,969 in Himachal Pradesh, 88,02,348 in Jammu and Kashmir, and 1,90,576 in Ladakh. Together, they account for 3,92,77,007 electors, or approximately 3.93 crore.

Accordingly, the total electorate– as of 2024 Lok Sabha in the States and UTs taken under SIR in all the three phases– is 97, 79, 65, 560 – 3, 92, 77, 007 = 93, 86, 88, 553 Voters.

However, the ECI has taken (calculated) the base line figures differently. The ECI has done this by taking different dates and different years as its base calculation figure. This “strategy,” we argue, creates more room for confusion and also provides space for manipulations and arbitrary actions.

The figure(s) of the Indian Electorate taken by the ECI for the three phases of the self-designated SIR are as under:

93, 86, 88, 553 Lok Sabha Electors (2024)

The total deletions during the three phases of SIR amount to approximately 11.80 crore. These comprise 47 lakhs in Phase I, 5.18 crore in Phase II and 6.15 crore deletions in the Phase III draft electoral rolls.

However, according to a report by Deeksha Bhardwaj published by India News on September 25, 2026, Election Commission officials stated that 2.73 crore new voters in the 18–28 age group had been added to electoral rolls since the SIR exercise began in 2025. This is the reported figure for additions up to Phase II.

Over 2 Crore Gen Z Voters Added To Electoral Rolls Since SIR In 2025: Poll Body

By @deekbhardwaj

https://t.co/8rQLMNLrVU https://t.co/XBFBHgioAc

— NDTV (@ndtv) September 25, 2026

The combined existing electorate used for Phases I and II was 7,89,69,844 + 50,99,72,687 = 58,89,42,531. Against this baseline, the reported addition of 2.73 crore new electors forms the basis for estimating the number of new electors registered during Phase III.

Estimated new electors in Phase III

Applying the same proportion of new registrations to the Phase III electorate, the calculation is 273 × 3674 ÷ 5889 = approximately 1.70 crore. This is a projection based on the figures for the first two phases, not an officially reported figure for Phase III.

The analysis argues that these newly registered electors are not reflected in the baseline electorate used for SIR. It therefore combines the 2.73 crore reported additions in Phases I and II with the estimated 1.70 crore additions in Phase III, arriving at 4.43 crore new electors. When these additions are considered alongside the approximately 11.80 crore deletions, the combined figure is 16.23 crore (11.80 crores + 2.73 crores+ 1.70 crores).

In eight States and Union Territories (UTs), namely Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Arunachal Pradesh, Chandigarh, NCT of Delhi, Odisha, Puducherry, Punjab and Uttarakhand, the electorate taken for SIR is 13.72 lakh lower than that recorded for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Adding this difference to the earlier figure gives 16.23 + 0.1372 = 16.3972 crore, i.e., approximately 16.40 crore.

Punjab: over 21.52 lakh electors removed from the 2024 Lok Sabha electorate

Punjab’s figures further illustrate the difference between the electorate recorded for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and the numbers carried forward during the SIR. There were 2,15,67,196 electors in Punjab during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. In the SIR, the electorate was taken as 2,14,56,297, meaning that 1,10,899 electors were missing at the very beginning. However, the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Punjab, had published 2,14,61,043 electors before the SIR, showing a discrepancy of 4,746 electors.

The draft rolls published on August 13, 2026, listed 1,93,94,435 electors, with 20,60,568 names deleted. Thereafter, another 86,038 names were removed from the draft rolls following decisions on 35,49,036 notices issued. This raises questions about the basis of the notices and the harassment caused by arbitrary action, particularly when 97.58% of the notices were allegedly baseless.

As a result, only 1,93,08,397 electors remained from the 2024 Lok Sabha electorate. A further 7,97,263 new electors were added. While the CEO claimed that only 13 lakh electors had been removed, the figures indicate that 21,52,696 electors from the existing electorate had been removed.

In all, the analysis puts the combined figure at approximately 16.40 crore, including deletions during SIR, reported additions of new electors up to Phase II, estimated additions in Phase III and the difference in the electorate recorded for eight States and UTs. The estimate combines figures from different stages of SIR, and the Phase III additions are projected rather than officially reported.

(This is a numeric analysis by experts with Vote for Democracy (VFD) based on available and projected figures)

Related:
UP voter lists: Software manipulates Voter’s names, Pilibhit investigation finds 10,470 irregular entries

Who controls access to voter records? ECINet audit raises fresh questions

Vote for Democracy seeks answers from ECI and TCS on ECI’s electoral database access and security

The post EXCLUSIVE – SIR: The total disenfranchisement of the Indian Voter is 16 crores, not 13.60 Crores? appeared first on SabrangIndia.

The attacks, reported by The Indian Express, took place under Chandrakona police station limits on October 18, 19 and 20, amid allegations that the families had faced sustained harassment for embracing Christianity. The assailants allegedly threatened to kill them, burn their homes and force them to renounce their faith. Despite the families approaching the police, the intimidation continued for three days before a formal First Information Report (FIR) was registered on October 20.

Thirteen people have been named in the FIR. As reported by The Indian Express on October 23, no arrests had been made at the time of publication, although police personnel had been deployed near the families’ homes.

Women assaulted, clothes torn; families threatened over their faith

Lakshmi Mondal, one of the victims, told The Wire that the harassment intensified on October 16, when a group allegedly threatened the Christian families with consequences unless they abandoned their religion. Two days later, the threats escalated into physical violence.

Recounting the assault, Lakshmi said she was struck below her ear by Ranjit Dolui and lost consciousness. When she partially regained consciousness, she could feel people removing her sari and tearing her blouse. She subsequently learnt that Dolui, Pocha Patra and Bapi Mondal had allegedly stripped and assaulted her.

The attackers allegedly splashed water on her face to revive her before pouring water over her body in front of onlookers, chanting “Jai Shri Ram” and declaring that she had been purified. Lakshmi said she was left lying on the floor of her home in that condition. The group also allegedly took away a Bible kept in the house.

The violence was accompanied by explicit threats against her family. According to Lakshmi’s account to The Wire, the assailants threatened to rape her Class X daughter and burn the family alive if they refused to abandon Christianity and return to Hinduism. The group allegedly attacked the homes of two other Christian families, including that of Saraswati Mondal and her husband, Ashok Mondal. Saraswati’s 15-year-old daughter was allegedly subjected to an attempt to strangle her, according to the family.

The account provided by a 40-year-old victim to The Indian Express corroborated the allegations of assault and forced religious purification. She said that on October 18, a group dragged her and her husband out of their home, beat them and tore her clothes before making her consume Tulsi and Bel leaves and pouring water over her as a purification ritual.

The allegations point to more than physical violence. The victims describe being publicly humiliated and subjected to rituals intended to undermine their religious identity, in an apparent attempt to force them to abandon a faith they say they had adopted voluntarily.

Forced to offer anjali at Durga Puja pandal

The attacks allegedly continued on October 19, when members of the group forced the families to participate in Hindu religious rituals. Lakshmi told The Wire that Madan Manna and Bappaditya Chatterjee, who were allegedly part of the previous day’s assault, took her and her husband, Tapan Mondal, along with Saraswati and her husband, Gopal Mondal, to a Durga Puja pandal in Dangal.

“They took us there against our will and forced us to offer anjali,” she alleged.

The families said they were made to participate in the ritual in front of others despite having been assaulted the previous day. The incident, as described by the victims, illustrates how religious rituals were allegedly used as instruments of coercion rather than voluntary expressions of faith.

On October 20, the intimidation allegedly continued. Lakshmi said that Manna and his associates took the men of the affected families to an isolated location and threatened to kill them if they did not renounce their belief in Jesus Christ. According to the complaint, the accused also abused and threatened Lakshmi and other family members and confined her inside her house. The families said they were too frightened to leave their homes and sent three minor girls to stay with relatives for their safety. Lakshmi eventually approached the police station again and lodged a formal complaint naming 13 people. The families said a police picket was deployed only after the FIR was registered.

Harassment allegedly began last year

The families told The Wire that the hostility did not begin with the October attacks. According to their account, Lakshmi’s husband, Tapan, his brother Gopal and another villager had embraced Christianity several years ago. Other residents of neighbouring villages had also converted. Lakshmi maintained that the decision was voluntary and rooted in their religious beliefs. She said the families continued to respect other religions and had been practising Christianity peacefully inside their homes.

However, she alleged that her relatives, Asit, Arun, Barun and Tarun Mondal, began harassing the family during Durga Puja last year, questioning their decision to convert. The family said they had submitted a written complaint to Chandrakona police station at the time. Although the police visited the village, they alleged that no effective action was taken against those accused of harassment.

The families said the intimidation later intensified, particularly after the change of government in West Bengal in May. According to Lakshmi, the attackers allegedly invoked the arrival of a new government and claimed that the Bajrang Dal would ensure that the families abandoned Christianity. Several witnesses who spoke to The Wire reportedly corroborated aspects of the victims’ account. 

Police security offered, but families remain afraid

Patlapur, located around 15 kilometres from Chandrakona town, is home to approximately 150 families belonging to different social and religious communities. Agriculture and the manufacture of copper ornaments are among the principal sources of livelihood in the area. Local primary school teacher Soumitra Gharui told The Wire that the village had not witnessed caste-related disputes or violence of this nature for decades. Residents alleged that efforts to disturb the area’s social harmony had begun around a year ago.

The families said the three days of violence had left them traumatised. Lakshmi also expressed concern for her elderly father-in-law, Krishnapada Mondal, who has reportedly been living with paralysis for several years and witnessed the harassment of the family. Speaking to The Indian Express, one of the victims said that four police personnel had been stationed outside their homes. While welcoming the security, she expressed fear that the protection might not last.

“We are happy the police helped us. But threat calls are coming. One day the police will leave. What will we do then?” she said. She added that she wanted only to live peacefully in her own home.

On October 21, Paschim Medinipur Superintendent of Police Papiya Sultana told The Wire that an FIR had been registered and that the police would provide security to the families and investigate the incident. Speaking to The Indian Express, Sultana said a police picket had been deployed because the families felt insecure and that the police were taking steps to prevent further incidents. An advocate who assisted the victims told The Indian Express that the FIR was registered after he visited the police station on October 20, but the accused had not been arrested.

For the families, the immediate concern remains their safety. They have alleged that they were threatened, assaulted and pressured to abandon their faith despite seeking police intervention. While a police picket has been established, the absence of reported arrests has added to their apprehension.

Related:

Dalit Class XI student dies by suicide after alleged casteist harassment in Coimbatore

CJP helps secure Ajabha Khatun’s release after 772 days in Assam’s Matia detention camp

Six police personnel suspended after custodial death of Dilshad Ansari in Bihar

‘Free the Temple’, ‘Defend the Faith’, ‘Take Up Weapons’: How festivals became vehicles for anti-Muslim hate in September

Six Days, One Unanswered Question: What happened to Shaheen and Nafisa Khan at Saket Police Station?

The post Christian families assaulted, humiliated and forced into Durga Puja rituals in West Bengal village appeared first on SabrangIndia.

#WATCH | Mumbai: Students staged a protest at Chaityabhoomi, expressing disappointment over the lack of action in the IIT Bombay student Sahil Wakode’s death case. Police detained all the protesters at the site. https://t.co/wxdd5uvOaA

— ANI (@ANI) October 25, 2026

Comedian Masoom Rajwani and many others detained by Mumbai Police.

Their crime?

Carrying out a peaceful candlelight gathering for Sahil Wakode.

Sahil, a Dalit student, died by suicide at IIT Bombay.

His parents have alleged that caste-based harassment led to his death https://t.co/7UgIIQwSL8

— Parth MN (@parthpunter) October 25, 2026

Why is Mumbai police house-arresting General Secretary of AIISCA @deepali_writes from going to Chaityabhoomi for candle gathering at 6 PM. Chait yabhoomi is a sacred place for Ambedicarites, it is arrocously casterst, cowardly and unconstitutional of police to detain Deepali. Why is the state so afraid of Dalits demanding justice?

— TheAmbedkarianChronicle (@TheAmbedkarian) October 25, 2026

VIDEO | Mumbai: The Progressive Students Union (PSU) organised a candlelight march at Chaityabhoomi to demand justice in the case of the suicide of IIT Bombay student Sahil Wakode.

Protesters participating in the march were taken into custody. A heavy police force was deployed in the area as a precautionary measure.

(Full video available on PTI Videos – https://t.co/bIyFWTfmBd)

— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) October 25, 2026

https://www.instagram.com/p/De8wW4MjUw_/ 

Parents of Wakode were also detained, and released later. 

Mumbai police has illegally detained Sahil Wakode’s parents in an unknown location.

— TheAmbedkarianChronicle (@TheAmbedkarian) October 25, 2026

The detentions at Chaityabhoomi, the memorial site of Dr B.R. Ambedkar, came amid mounting demands for accountability from the IIT Bombay administration over allegations of caste-based harassment preceding Wakode’s death. Rather than allowing students and concerned citizens to mourn and demand justice peacefully, the police deployed a heavy force, prevented the gathering from proceeding freely and detained participants on the grounds that the vigil lacked permission. 

According to The Hindu, approximately 20 to 25 people were detained at Chaityabhoomi, with protesters alleging that police personnel forcibly removed participants, including women. The Times of India also reported the detentions, confirming that Rajwani was among those taken into custody. Police maintained that the gathering was unauthorised and cited law-and-order concerns.

The Progressive Students Union (PSU) had called for the candlelight vigil at 5.30 p.m. to pay tribute to Wakode and demand an impartial investigation into his death. Participants included students and activists associated with organisations supporting the struggle for justice, including individuals from IIT Bombay and the Tata Institute of Social Sciences.

According to accounts reported by The Hindu, protesters alleged that police personnel carried out two rounds of detentions, at around 6 p.m. and 7 p.m. Tejas Anoop of Aamchi Padhai Aamchi Ladai said police approached individuals and detained those they suspected of participating in the protest, including people carrying candles or placards. He further alleged that people who questioned the detentions or sought written authorisation were also taken away.

Rajwani told The Hindu that he arrived at Chaityabhoomi around 6.10 p.m. and that the march had still not begun by 7.30 p.m. He alleged that four police personnel lifted him by his arms and legs while detaining him, causing a minor scratch. He also claimed that detainees were not told where they were being taken and were not provided water during transportation.

Another participant, Akalya, alleged that four police personnel put her inside a van while she was photographing the gathering. She said she was kept inside for approximately 30 to 45 minutes without being informed of the reason for her detention. Her phone was temporarily taken away when she tried to contact her family, she alleged.

Deepali, another participant, said she had been taken to a police station and released around 6.30 p.m. She maintained that the gathering was intended to be peaceful and condemned the manner in which participants were treated. Social media posts also raised allegations that police had prevented activists, including the general secretary of the All India Independent Scheduled Caste Association (AIISCA), from reaching Chaityabhoomi.

Despite the police action, approximately 40 to 50 people subsequently gathered to pay tribute to Wakode, according to reports. Those detained were released from police stations in Tardeo, Worli and Dadar later that evening.

People broke free from Tardeo police station https://t.co/HXDOLYDJgC

— Preksha (@09preksha) October 25, 2026

A month of protests, allegations of police brutality

Wakode, a second-year BTech student at IIT Bombay’s Powai campus, was found dead in his hostel room on September 18, hours after he was allegedly caught using a mobile phone during a mid-semester examination. His parents and fellow students subsequently raised allegations of caste-based harassment and mistreatment.

A police complaint named Professor Suryanarayana Doolla and invoked provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, alongside provisions relating to abetment of suicide. Doolla, who was removed from his position as dean of students’ welfare and sent on leave, has been at the centre of allegations concerning his treatment of Wakode. The professor and IIT Bombay Director Shireesh Kedare have denied allegations of caste-based discrimination. The Mumbai Crime Branch has taken over the investigation and recorded statements from more than 40 people.

The police action at Chaityabhoomi followed earlier detentions of Wakode’s parents and protesting students on October 18, exactly a month after his death. At the time, police also demolished the protest site outside IIT Bombay and detained several people. Students and activists have continued to allege that the police, acting alongside the institutional response to the death, have repeatedly attempted to suppress their demands for accountability.

As The Wire previously reported, a student injured during an earlier protest received a medico-legal certificate from KMJ Hospital in Vikhroli that reportedly recorded “assault by Powai police” as the cause of injury. The certificate also documented blunt trauma to the shoulder and a linear abrasion over the right elbow, alongside a reported attempt to strangle the student. Earlier social media posts had also alleged that women protesters were dragged, beaten and inappropriately touched by police personnel.

84 organisations demand IIT Bombay director’s resignation

The police crackdown came as 84 organisations from across the country issued an open letter demanding the resignation of IIT Bombay Director Professor Shireesh Kedare, describing it as a necessary measure of institutional accountability following Wakode’s death. As reported by Maktoob Media, the letter accused the institute of responding to complaints of caste discrimination with callousness and repression. The signatories questioned the administration’s decision to refer to Wakode as a “cheater” in its initial communication following his death, arguing that the statement risked discrediting the student before the circumstances surrounding his death had been adequately investigated.

The letter also criticised the public support extended by the institute’s faculty body to Doolla, who has been named in the police complaint, and raised concerns about the alleged selective release of examination-hall CCTV footage to the media. It further condemned the police action against Wakode’s parents and fellow students during earlier protests.

“The series of events which has unfolded following the unfortunate demise of your student Sahil Wakode has revealed IIT Bombay administration to be spectacularly callous at best or maliciously repressive towards complaints of caste discrimination,” the letter stated.

The signatories include student unions, Ambedkarite organisations, teachers’ associations and civil rights groups, including the Ambedkar Students’ Association, Students’ Federation of India, All India Students’ Association, National Alliance of People’s Movements and Disha Students’ Organisation.

The organisations argued that the director’s resignation was necessary to establish accountability and send a clear message that allegations of discrimination and harassment against marginalised students cannot be brushed aside through institutional statements or disciplinary narratives that shift scrutiny onto the deceased student.

Tribal students detained at Shivaji Park

The crackdown was not confined to Chaityabhoomi. At nearby Shivaji Park, Mumbai Police detained approximately 120 tribal students and activists who had assembled to demand the resignation of Maharashtra Tribal Development Minister Ashok Uike, along with the commissioner and secretary of the tribal development department.

According to PTI and The New Indian Express, the protesters were seeking accountability for deteriorating conditions in tribal residential schools, an inquiry into the alleged deaths of 584 students, improved hostel facilities and the scrapping of the contract system for centralised kitchens in tribal residential schools.

The students had reportedly been agitating since August. Their earlier demonstration on October 5 had ended with police detaining participants and sending them back to their hometowns in Nashik, Nandurbar and Jalgaon. On Sunday, protesters said they were detained at Dadar railway station and near Tilak Bhavan before they could reach the proposed venue. Police personnel were also reportedly deployed at railway stations and bus stops along routes leading to Shivaji Park. The protesters had sought permission to demonstrate at Azad Maidan and Shivaji Park but were denied permission. They said they would continue their agitation at Azad Maidan on Monday.

Taken together, the detentions at Shivaji Park and Chaityabhoomi reveal a disturbing pattern: students raising questions about caste deaths, discrimination and the treatment of vulnerable communities are met with preventive custody and restrictions on assembly rather than meaningful engagement with their grievances.

At Chaityabhoomi, the demand was for justice for a young Dalit student whose death has raised serious questions about caste discrimination and institutional responsibility. At Shivaji Park, tribal students were seeking accountability for conditions in residential schools and alleged student deaths. Both gatherings were disrupted by police action.

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