SIR aimed at removing Muslims from voter rolls, alleges Prashant Bhushan
Bengaluru: Senior Supreme Court advocate Prashant Bhushan has alleged that the BJP government is using the Election Commission to conduct a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise to remove minorities, particularly Muslims, from the electoral rolls.
Speaking at a public seminar on “Delimitation, Women’s Reservation Bill and SIR” held at Ashirvad Centre in Bengaluru on Sunday, Bhushan said the SIR process posed a serious challenge to democratic rights and was being used to deprive eligible citizens of their voting rights.
He said the Election Commission has made it mandatory for officials to go door to door and fill out enumeration forms as part of the voter verification process. While the Commission maintains that the exercise is meant to verify and update the electoral rolls, Bhushan claimed that such a process was not followed when the country’s first voter list was prepared.
Bhushan alleged that 60 lakh voters were removed from the electoral rolls in West Bengal through the SIR process. He claimed that over 27,000 names were deleted merely due to spelling variations and alleged that around 70 per cent of those removed were Muslims. According to him, many of them were supporters of the All India Trinamool Congress. He argued that this was one of the reasons why the BJP won several Assembly constituencies by narrow margins.
He further said that when the issue of SIR was raised before the Supreme Court, the matter did not receive adequate consideration. Of the 60 lakh voters allegedly removed in West Bengal, only around 1,500 were restored to the rolls, he claimed. Bhushan also expressed concern over the appointment process of Election Commissioners and said challenges to it in the Supreme Court had not yielded meaningful results.
Social activist K. S. Vimala said the implementation of SIR had adversely affected the rights of Muslims and women. She questioned the BJP government’s proposal for women’s reservation while linking its implementation to delimitation and the Census.
Bhushan also warned that delimitation based purely on population figures could disadvantage southern states, as population growth in North India has been significantly higher than in the South. He alleged that the delimitation process could work in favour of the ruling BJP at the Centre.
He said such a process may be difficult to challenge legally if it is carried out strictly on population criteria, and suggested that states likely to be affected should launch public movements to oppose it.
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Ex-army chief Naravane backs RSS leader's remarks on dialogue with Pakistan
Mumbai (PTI): Former army chief Gen (retd) Manoj Naravane on Wednesday supported RSS leader Dattatreya Hosabale's stand on the desirability of willingness to have a dialogue with Pakistan, stating that friendship between the two peoples can lead to better bilateral relations.
"Common people live on both sides of the border, with common problems of 'roti, kapda and makan (food, clothing and shelter). Common man has nothing to do with politics. When there is friendship between the two peoples, there will also be friendship between the two nations," Naravane told PTI on the sidelines of an event here.
"It is a right thing. People-to-people contact is important," he added.
People-to-people contact is key to breaking the deadlock with Pakistan and there should always be a window for dialogue, Hosabale said in an interview to PTI Videos on Tuesday. Pakistan's military and political leadership have lost India's confidence and it is time for civil society to lead the way, the RSS leader said.
Naravane said there should be a people-to-people connect between the two countries, be it through 'track two' diplomacy or even a sporting event.
"Even our people should know that those staying across the border are not sworn enemies," the former army chief said.
"Disputes should be resolved through discussion, but this does not mean we cannot use military force. India is a country that speaks the language of peace but we will not hesitate to use force if needed," Naravane added.
VIDEO | Mumbai: On RSS leader Dattatreya Hosabale advocating window of dialogue with Pakistan to be kept open, Former Army chief Gen MM Naravane (@ManojNaravane) says, “One important point is that people-to-people connections and contacts are extremely important. Ordinary people… pic.twitter.com/3pMmvynm43
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) May 13, 2026
