Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and 10 other INDIA bloc leaders have approached the Supreme Court challenging the Election Commission of India’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, alleging large-scale voter deletions and irregularities in the exercise.
The writ petition was filed on Monday, October 12, naming the Election Commission of India (ECI), Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and two other election commissioners as respondents. According to the Supreme Court’s case status, the petition was registered under diary number 64196/2026 and remains pending.
The legal move escalates the Opposition’s confrontation with the poll body over the voter roll revision process, which INDIA bloc leaders say threatens electoral fairness and could exclude eligible voters. The petitioners include senior leaders from the Congress, Trinamool Congress, Samajwadi Party, Rashtriya Janata Dal, Shiv Sena (UBT), Left parties, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) and Indian Union Muslim League.
Who Are the 11 INDIA Bloc Leaders Challenging SIR?
The petition lists the following political leaders as petitioners:
- Rahul Gandhi, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha
- Mallikarjun Kharge, Congress president
- Saugata Roy, Trinamool Congress leader
- Akhilesh Yadav, Samajwadi Party chief
- Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, Rashtriya Janata Dal leader
- Sanjay Raut, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader
- M.A. Baby, CPI(M) leader
- D. Raja, CPI leader
- Mahua Majhi, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha leader
- Supriya Sule, NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) leader
- E.T. Mohammed Basheer, Indian Union Muslim League leader
The respondents are the Election Commission of India, Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, Election Commissioner Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Election Commissioner Vivek Joshi.
The filing followed an announcement by Gandhi that Opposition leaders would approach the Supreme Court after seeking an appointment with Chief Justice of India Surya Kant.
Addressing a press conference at the Congress headquarters in New Delhi on Monday, Gandhi said he and Kharge had written to the Chief Justice expressing concerns over electoral fairness and what they described as an “attack on democracy”.
Gandhi said the Chief Justice had advised the Opposition leaders to approach the court through a formal petition. He announced that INDIA bloc leaders would jointly initiate legal proceedings and appealed to citizens to join their campaign in support of the Constitution and democratic principles.
The Opposition leaders had also begun a protest march towards the Supreme Court, demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in the electoral process.