New Delhi: Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi and 10 other INDIA bloc leaders have moved the Supreme Court, challenging the Election Commission of India’s (ECI) Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, alleging large-scale voter deletions and irregularities in the exercise. The writ petition, filed on Monday, names the ECI and Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar among the respondents.
According to the case status reflected on the apex court’s website, the petition was filed on October 12 under diary number 64196/2026 and is currently pending. It lists Rahul Gandhi, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Trinamool Congress leader Saugata Roy, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut, CPI(M) leader M.A. Baby, CPI leader D. Raja, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha leader Mahua Majhi, NCP (SP) leader Supriya Sule and Indian Union Muslim League leader E.T. Mohammed Basheer as petitioners.
The respondents include the Election Commission of India, CEC Gyanesh Kumar, Election Commissioner Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Election Commissioner Vivek Joshi. The development comes amid an escalating confrontation between the Opposition and the poll body over the SIR exercise, with INDIA bloc leaders alleging that the revision process threatens electoral fairness and could result in the exclusion of eligible voters from electoral rolls. Earlier on Monday, Gandhi said Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant had advised Opposition leaders to approach the Supreme Court through a formal petition after they sought an appointment to raise their concerns over the SIR exercise. Addressing a press conference at the Congress headquarters in New Delhi, Gandhi said he and Kharge had written to the CJI expressing concern over electoral fairness and “attack on democracy”.
He announced that INDIA bloc leaders would jointly approach the apex court to initiate legal proceedings and appealed to citizens to join their campaign in support of the Constitution and democracy. The Opposition leaders had also begun a protest march towards the Supreme Court, demanding the resignation of CEC Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in the electoral process. Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) launched a sharp attack on the INDIA bloc, accusing it of turning the SIR controversy into a political spectacle. BJP national spokesperson Guru Prakash Paswan, speaking to IANS, dismissed the Opposition’s allegations and said the Supreme Court had already ruled on the constitutional validity of the SIR exercise. “This is baseless… They are lying. The Supreme Court has already ruled on the constitutionality of SIR,” he said. Paswan further alleged that the Congress was losing elections across the country, including those conducted using ballot papers, and cited local elections in Silchar in Assam, Tripura and Himachal Pradesh to support his argument.