Protests over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls brought thousands onto the streets in Delhi and Mumbai on Saturday, as police detained more than 7,400 demonstrators across the two cities. Amid the confrontation, 124 former civil servants issued an open letter defending the Election Commission of India and questioning allegations of vote rigging they said lacked credible evidence.
The largest police operation unfolded in Delhi, where more than 7,000 people were detained on Saturday, TOI reported. To support their argument, the former officers referred to the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, when the BJP failed to secure a parliamentary majority on its own, as well as state elections in which the party had suffered defeats. They also cited the 2025 Bihar Assembly polls, which they said recorded the highest voter turnout since 1951 without requiring any re-polling.
“A system cannot be honest when you win and rigged when you lose,” the letter stated. The action followed a call by the youth-led Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) to assemble at Jantar Mantar and demand the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over the controversial revision of voter lists. Several high-profile figures and opposition leaders were detained across Delhi, including Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, AISA president Neha Bora, former Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan, CPI(ML) leader Dipankar Bhattacharya, Rajya Sabha MP John Brittas, activist Yogendra Yadav, and advocate Prashant Bhushan. CJP and the INDIA bloc have maintained that it will continue its campaign until Kumar resigns.
Earlier today, CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke and organisers Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka were detained after their flight from Mumbai landed in Delhi. CJP leader Ajinkya Shinde reiterated that demand on Saturday.
The controversy intensified after an Indian Express investigation reported that two election commissioners had raised internal objections to aspects of the revision process.
The revision process includes safeguards against wrongful exclusion, such as the publication of draft rolls, opportunities to submit claims and objections, hearings and appeals, according to the signatories. They urged citizens to verify their registrations and assist others, particularly migrant workers and elderly voters, in checking their details. Opposition parties, however, have questioned the scale and accuracy of the deletions, alleging that the exercise could disproportionately affect their supporters. The Election Commission and the BJP have denied allegations of electoral manipulation.
