A newly formed coalition of farmers, workers, women and youth has demanded the complete withdrawal of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, rejecting calls to modify or reform the exercise. The platform, People Against SIR, announced its position ahead of a closed-door hearing by a five-member Independent Commission examining voter grievances in New Delhi.
The commission, chaired by former Supreme Court judge Justice Madan Lokur, is scheduled to hear testimonies on Thursday from 9 am to 1.30 pm at Jawahar Bhawan. Other members include Justices AK Patnaik, Badar Durrez Ahmed, Rekha Sharma and Anjana Prakash. The hearing was proposed by the Lawyers’ Association for Constitution.
In a statement issued from Surjeet Bhavan, the coalition said it would submit findings from its public audits of electoral rolls to the commission. It also called for the voter lists to be restored to their pre-2024 versions and subsequently updated through social audits, citing the Election Commission Manual and Comptroller and Auditor General guidelines.
The group described the SIR exercise as illegal and demanded an end to the process. It also called for the removal and prosecution of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and the withdrawal of the Election Commission of India’s legal immunity.
Under its central slogan, “Remove and Prosecute Gyanesh! Reset Our Voter List!”, the platform demanded that no further elections be conducted using voter lists prepared through the SIR process. It also sought the annulment of elections conducted on the basis of these lists in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Goa, Manipur, Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh.
Among its other demands, the coalition called for the ECINET application to be made open source to enable public scrutiny. It also sought changes to the process for appointing Election Commission members, including revisions to tenure rules, and demanded the reversal of all orders initiating the SIR exercise, including those linked to ration cards, government schemes and detention.
The platform further urged the Election Commission to make all documents relating to SIR decision-making publicly available and stop seeking information about citizenship during voter verification. It reiterated that the pre-2024 electoral rolls should serve as the baseline for public audits and subsequent updates.
Beyond the voter revision exercise, People Against SIR announced its opposition to delimitation, a caste census, a demographic survey and the One Nation One Election proposal. The coalition argued that these initiatives threaten electoral democracy and called for broader electoral reforms.
As part of its campaign, the group plans to organise a nationwide Street Action Day on October 23 under the slogan “Har Galli Jantar Mantar, Har Gaon Jantar Mantar, Mera Ghar Jantar Mantar”. The campaign will include marches, public assemblies, conventions and referendums at designated “Jantar Mantars” across the country.
The platform also condemned the de-notification of Delhi’s Jantar Mantar protest site and said it was preparing to reclaim the location. It raised the slogan “Stop Police Brutality” but did not identify a specific incident of police action.
The statement also demanded the immediate and unconditional release of CJP leaders Ashutosh Ranka and Saurav Das, who were reportedly sent to five days of police remand. However, the platform did not provide details of the case or the charges, and police had not commented at the time of reporting.
Other planned initiatives include an open letter to the President, public outreach campaigns highlighting what the coalition describes as the illegality of the SIR, and state-level conventions on electoral integrity. The group also intends to expand its public audits of voter lists to additional states and increase youth participation.
The coalition appealed to political parties to defend the Constitution and democracy by joining its campaign. However, it did not identify any party that had formally committed to participating. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party had not commented on the platform’s formation at the time of reporting.
To coordinate its activities nationwide, People Against SIR has decided to establish an All India Coordination Committee, in whose name the statement was issued.
