Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi has questioned the Election Commission of India over changes made to the online version of Form 6, the statutory application used for fresh enrolment of voters.
In a post on X on Thursday, Gandhi sought to know who within the Election Commission authorised Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) to implement the changes and whether the company was pressured to carry them out.
“The online Form 6 was changed illegally — as the EC's own Commissioners have recorded. Who at the ECI ordered Tata Consultancy Services to make that change?” Gandhi said.
What changed in Form 6?
The controversy centres on an additional declaration that was incorporated into the online Form 6 process on the ECINET portal during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
According to an investigation by The Indian Express, the additional section sought information on whether the applicant, or their parents or grandparents, had appeared in the electoral roll prepared during the previous SIR. Applicants were asked to select whether their own name, a parent’s or grandparent’s name appeared in the earlier roll, or whether none of them did.
The report also said that although the additional section was not marked as mandatory, applicants could not proceed with the online submission without completing it.
Two Election Commissioners had raised objections
Gandhi’s questions come against the backdrop of reported objections by Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi to the changes.
According to The Indian Express, the two commissioners questioned the legal basis for modifying the online Form 6, with concerns that changes to a statutory form prescribed under the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, would require the prescribed legal process.
The report said Sandhu had described the change as “unauthorised/illegal” and sought its removal, while Joshi had also objected to the alteration.
Election Commission later withdrew declaration in some states
The Election Commission subsequently withdrew the additional SIR-related declaration from the online Form 6 in states and Union Territories where the revision exercise had been completed.
The poll panel said the additional declaration was intended specifically for the SIR exercise and that, outside the SIR period, the forms prescribed under the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960 would be used.
The Election Commission has maintained that the statutory Form 6 itself was not amended and described the additional requirement as an SIR-specific declaration. The Commission has also said that differences of opinion and observations are part of institutional deliberations and that its orders have the required legal sanction and follow statutory procedures.
Questions come amid wider SIR controversy
Gandhi’s remarks come amid a wider political dispute over the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls and reported differences within the poll panel over aspects of the exercise.
An Indian Express investigation reported that Sandhu and Joshi had raised objections on multiple occasions over decisions relating to the SIR process. The issue has since become a major point of contention between the Opposition and the Election Commission.
The INDIA bloc has also announced plans for protests over alleged irregularities in voter-list revision, including a march by Opposition MPs to the Election Commission on October 6.
