Congress MP Rahul Gandhi wrote to Chief Justice Surya Kant on October 11 regarding EVMs and Punjab’s electoral rolls. He said 20 lakh names left the rolls by August. The Supreme Court registry directed these concerns be treated as applications. Gandhi sought a proper look into these serious election allegations.

New Delhi:

NDTV has exclusively accessed the representations made by Congress MP Rahul Gandhi to the Chief Justice of India Surya Kant on a range of issues linked to the Election Commission of India (ECI), Special Intensive Revision (SIR), electronic voting machines (EVMs) and the upcoming assembly election in Punjab, where the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is in power.

CPI(M) leader John Brittas had also written to the Chief Justice seeking an independent investigation into the police action during the protest demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar on October 10.

After these representations were made on October 11, the Supreme Court registry, as NDTV exclusively learnt, on the following day directed the representations by Rahul Gandhi and John Brittas be treated as applications to form part of the main case linked to the protest.

Rahul Gandhi flagged urgency ahead of the Punjab assembly elections scheduled for early 2027. He alleged the number of voters in the border state fell from 2.14 crore in June 2026 to 1.93 crore when the draft electoral roll was published in August. This meant some 20 lakh names have left the electoral roll, he said.

According to the representation, the final electoral roll was scheduled for publication on October 12; in addition to his, Rahul Gandhi said letting disputed decisions, including the 'modified' Form 6 without any rollback option, stay unresolved could result in eligible voters not appearing in the final voter rolls. He said many other states have the same concern.

On the issue of SIR and EVMs, Rahul Gandhi said the ECI's collective power has been unilaterally used by the chief election commissioner for the SIR exercise. The ECI's top three officers are Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, and Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi.

The Congress MP alleged he had recorded a note of dissent at a meeting of the selection committee to appoint Gyanesh Kumar back in February 2025. The representation, however, clarified that it is not asking for the removal of the chief election commissioner. It said it is only seeking a proper look into serious allegations and scope of action in accordance with law.

Rahul Gandhi suggested that the representation could be considered alongside related proceedings which were pending in the Supreme Court.

Regarding Form 6, which is needed to register as a voter, the Congress MP referred to the demand for a declaration on whether the applicant or their relatives had appeared in an earlier SIR of the electoral roll.

Then he cited the Supreme Court's October 5 clarification that it had not approved the modified Form 6. He said an unlawful condition on Form 6 could burden the right of new and first-time voters to enrol, potentially leading to large-scale exclusion of eligible voters.

Rahul Gandhi questioned the absence of a recorded decision by the ECI to launch the SIR exercise across the nation, and demanded to see such a file if it existed at all.

The Congress leader flagged the ECINET over what he claimed was its "centralised and opaque design". He said Section 13B of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, vests preparation and revision of electoral rolls in electoral registration officers (EROs) and they cannot be curtailed through software or technical implementation.

Any wrongful deletion of even a fraction of voters could seriously harm the system, Rahul Gandhi said.

On EVMs, Rahul Gandhi said the existing processes and policies must first inspire confidence that elections are free and fair - and must also appear free and fair to ordinary voters. He sought a thorough review of EVM-related decisions, policies, procedures, protocols, technical designs and architecture against global best practices.

John Brittas' Letter

CPI(M) MP John Brittas has sought judicial intervention and a court-supervised independent investigation into the alleged police assault on him in Delhi. Brittas has alleged he was assaulted while peacefully interacting with journalists during the protest demanding Gyanesh Kumar's resignation.

Yesterday, a petition was filed by Rahul Gandhi and 10 Opposition leaders. The matter was not listed for hearing today as defects pointed out by the registry were yet to be addressed.

As per the Supreme Court's website, the registry had flagged 14 defects including lack of a clear copy of the ID card of the Congress president and Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge, a co-petitioner in the case.