‘Illegally changed’: Rahul Gandhi demands answers from ECI, TCS over Form 6 alterations
New Delhi: Amid escalating chaos surrounding the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Thursday questioned the Election Commission of India (ECI) regarding modifications made to the online Form 6 voter registration application.
In a post shared on X, Gandhi asked who within the poll panel ordered the alterations to Form 6 and who authorised the changes.
"The online Form 6 was changed illegally - as the EC's own Commissioners have recorded. Who at the ECI ordered Tata Consultancy Services to make that change? Who at TCS signed off on it? And were they pressured into doing it?" Gandhi asked.
His remarks followed an investigative report by The Indian Express revealing that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had raised objections to alterations made to online Form 6, the application used for registering new names on electoral rolls.
According to the report, an additional declaration pertaining to the previous SIR electoral roll was introduced onto the ECINET portal version of Form 6. The declaration requested details on whether the applicant, or their parent or grandparent, was listed in the electoral roll compiled during the previous SIR.
A major controversy has erupted amidst broader political friction between opposition parties and the poll body regarding the SIR process and the Commission's operations.
On Wednesday, INDIA bloc leaders convened a coordination meeting in New Delhi and announced a series of demonstrations against the ECI. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge stated that opposition parties would orchestrate a nationwide "Save Democracy March" at the district level from October 2 to October 8.
Opposition MPs are also slated to march towards the Election Commission on October 6, while top INDIA bloc figures are expected to meet President Droupadi Murmu during the second week of October to submit their grievances.
Addressing the meeting, Gandhi asserted that INDIA bloc leaders remained dedicated to demanding accountability for what they characterise as threats against democratic institutions.
"It is the personal commitment of all INDIA leaders that we are going to ensure that the people who have destroyed Indian democracy are punished. It doesn't matter how senior they are, who they are; Indian democracy is bigger than every single person in this country," he said.
Meanwhile, the Election Commission has maintained that electoral rolls are compiled through established statutory mechanisms and has initiated steps to audit the functioning of the ECINET portal.