S.I.R Controversy: Election Commission Drops Extra Form 6 Declaration After Internal Objections

Amid the Opposition’s escalating campaign against CEC Gyanesh Kumar and the Election Commission, the poll panel has removed the additional SIR-linked declaration from online Form 6 in states where the SIR process has been completed. Form 6 is used by new voters to apply for inclusion in the electoral roll. The additional declaration had asked applicants to establish whether they or their parents or grandparents appeared in an earlier electoral roll. Two Election Commissioners, Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi, had reportedly raised objections to the way the requirement was incorporated into the online process. The change does not apply uniformly: where SIR is still underway, the additional declaration continues during the SIR process. The Election Commission has maintained that the declaration was an additional SIR document rather than a formal amendment to the statutory Form 6.