The Election Commission of India (ECI) is currently overseeing a massive administrative undertaking known as the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), aimed at cleaning up electoral rolls across the country.
The process, which verifies current voter records against 2002 data, has resulted in the removal of approximately 60 million names across 12 states and territories since November 2025.
Among those caught in the administrative dragnet is R Rajagopal, a former editor of The Telegraph, who claims his name was purged despite his long-standing residency in Kolkata. Rajagopal reports that his passport renewal has been stalled because authorities require his name to appear on the electoral roll for police verification.
While the Editors Guild of India and various opposition figures have decried the situation as evidence of systemic failure, the ECI maintains that the SIR exercise is a necessary measure to identify and remove ineligible voters from the system.
Rajagopal, who has served as a voter since 2010, is currently among the thousands of individuals who have filed appeals in court to challenge their removal.
As the ECI expands the verification process to additional states, the debate continues over the balance between maintaining accurate, secure voter rolls and the bureaucratic burden placed on citizens during the verification process.
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