EC says Form 6, 8 SIR orders were unanimously approved

Election Commission officials said on Thursday that special intensive revision orders for Phase 1 in Bihar (June 24, 2025), Phase 2 in a dozen states/UTs (Oct 27, 2025) and Phase 3 in 19 states/UTs (May 14, 2026) all listed Forms 6 and 8 with a mandatory citizenship declaration, and were unanimously approved by the CEC and two commissioners. Officials also denied ECINET was locking out field officers, amid Rahul Gandhi's criticism of CEC Gyanesh Kumar.

Written by AI from Times of India — Top · not yet reviewed by an editor · Published 25 Sept 2026, 4:47 am IST

Source

Times of India — Top · read the original report ↗

#election commission#sir#electoral rolls#form 6#ecinet

Desk check · some claims need care

What the desk checked (5)

SIR orders for Phase 1 (Bihar, June 24, 2025), Phase 2 (Oct 27, 2025) and Phase 3 (May 14, 2026) were unanimously approved by the CEC and two election commissioners. — Attributed to unnamed EC officials; dates appear in the source, no independent documentation cited.
Forms 6 and 8 were listed with a mandatory citizenship declaration form in all three phases. — Attributed to EC officials citing pages and paragraphs of the orders; text of orders not reproduced in source.
Commissioner Vivek Joshi objected to Form 6 on May 16 and SS Sandhu on Aug 13. — Dates stated in source without named attribution; year not specified for the objections.
The Supreme Court verdict of May 27, 2026 upheld EC's power to add the declaration form. — Figure and date appear in source; verdict not quoted or otherwise sourced.
ECINET is not locking out field officers and is a decentralised platform under RP Acts 1950 and 1951. — Attributed to EC sources and an unnamed EC official quoted by TOI.

Written by AI from Times of India — Top · not yet reviewed by an editor · How we use AI · Report an error

Analysts’ view opinion

AI Political Analyst

This is a fight over who gets to own the story of an internal split at the Election Commission. By targeting CEC Gyanesh Kumar while praising the two commissioners, Rahul Gandhi has chosen a strategy of isolating an individual rather than rejecting the institution wholesale. The EC's response — that all three phase orders were unanimously approved and that the objections came later — is precisely an attempt to blunt that strategy, and it shows the electoral-roll dispute has moved from technical procedure to full political combat.

With the opposition converting the 'vote chori' narrative into campaign material, institutional credibility itself has become a central political issue.
Criticising one office-holder while praising the other commissioners is calculated: it avoids the charge of delegitimising the entire Commission.
By citing exact pages, paras and the sequence of dates, the EC is building a counter-narrative of 'unanimous decision first, objection later'.
With Phase 3 dated May 14, 2026 covering 19 states and UTs, regional parties in poll-bound states have an incentive to join the dispute.
Since the Supreme Court upheld the EC's power to add the declaration form, the contest has shifted from legality to questions of political intent.

What to watch — Watch whether the two commissioners respond publicly, and whether the opposition escalates this in Parliament or state by state.

The account rests on EC sources' clarification and does not establish the full substance of the commissioners' objections, their own explanation, or what actually happened on the ground.

Deep dive

Research brief · 8 facts · 7 dates · exam-ready

The brief

Context

The Election Commission of India has been conducting a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in phases — Phase 1 in Bihar, Phase 2 in a dozen states/UTs and an ongoing Phase 3 in 19 states/UTs. The revision requires electors to use Form 6 (new enrolment) and Form 8 (shifting from outside the state/UT), along with a mandatory declaration on the citizenship details of the elector or their parents. After Congress leader Rahul Gandhi attacked CEC Gyanesh Kumar over alleged "vote chori" and SIR anomalies while praising Election Commissioners SS Sandhu and Vivek Joshi for flagging procedural pitfalls, EC officials responded that all three SIR orders were unanimously approved by the full Commission. Officials also rejected claims that the ECINET platform was locking out field officers.

Key facts

EC officials said on Thursday that SIR orders for all three phases listed Forms 6 and 8 with a mandatory declaration on citizenship details of the elector or parents.
Phase 1 SIR order for Bihar was issued on June 24, 2025.
Phase 2 SIR order, covering a dozen states/UTs, was issued on Oct 27, 2025.
Phase 3 SIR order, covering 19 states/UTs, was issued on May 14, 2026, and is ongoing.
Form 6 is an application for registration as a new elector; Form 8 is for shifting of an elector from outside the state/UT where enrolment is sought.
Election Commissioner Vivek Joshi objected to Form 6 on May 16, two days after he himself signed the third SIR order.
Election Commissioner SS Sandhu raised his objection on Aug 13, after the Supreme Court's May 27, 2026 verdict upheld EC's power to add the declaration form.
EC sources said ECINET is a decentralised platform designed in accordance with the RP Act 1950, RP Act 1951 and EC instructions, and does not lock out field officers.

Timeline

June 24, 2025SIR order issued for Phase 1 in Bihar, listing Forms 6 and 8 with the citizenship declaration.
Oct 27, 2025SIR order issued for Phase 2 covering a dozen states/UTs.
May 14, 2026SIR order issued for Phase 3 covering 19 states/UTs, signed by Vivek Joshi among others.
May 16Election Commissioner Vivek Joshi objects to Form 6, two days after signing the third SIR order.
May 27, 2026Supreme Court verdict on SIR upholds EC's power to add the citizenship declaration form.
Aug 13Election Commissioner SS Sandhu raises his objection to Form 6 and the declaration.
Thursday (story date)EC officials cite pages and paras of orders to assert unanimous approval; Rahul Gandhi attacks CEC Gyanesh Kumar over 'vote chori' and SIR anomalies.

Who has a stake

Election Commission of India — Its institutional credibility and the legality of the SIR process, Form 6 and the citizenship declaration are under challenge.
CEC Gyanesh Kumar — Directly attacked by Rahul Gandhi over alleged 'vote chori' and SIR anomalies.
Election Commissioners SS Sandhu and Vivek Joshi — Praised by Rahul Gandhi for flagging pitfalls, but EC says both approved the orders and objected only later.
Rahul Gandhi / Opposition — Building a political case that SIR procedures are unlawful and enable deletion or manipulation of voters.
Field officers (BLOs, AEROs, EROs, DEOs, CEOs) — Perform statutory roll-revision functions on ECINET with unique IDs; allegations claim they were being locked out.
Electors in Phase 3's 19 states/UTs — Must file Form 6 or Form 8 with a citizenship declaration; EC says the declaration exempts them from submitting other documents.
Supreme Court — Its May 27, 2026 verdict upheld EC's power to add the declaration form, framing the legal boundaries of the dispute.

Why it matters

Electoral rolls determine who can vote, so disputes over enrolment forms and citizenship declarations go to the heart of electoral legitimacy. The claim that all three SIR orders were unanimously approved by the full Commission tests whether internal dissent within the EC was contemporaneous or an afterthought, which shapes the credibility of both the Commission and its critics. For voters in 19 states/UTs currently under Phase 3, the procedural questions directly affect their place on the rolls.

UPSC angle

Prelims pointers

Form 6: application for registration as a new elector; Form 8: for shifting of an elector from outside the state/UT of enrolment.
SIR phases: Bihar order June 24, 2025; a dozen states/UTs Oct 27, 2025; 19 states/UTs May 14, 2026.
Supreme Court verdict on SIR dated May 27, 2026 upheld EC's power to add the citizenship declaration form.
ECINET: EC's decentralised platform designed as per RP Act 1950, RP Act 1951 and EC instructions; accessed by BLOs, AEROs, EROs, DEOs and CEOs with unique IDs.
Election Commission comprises the Chief Election Commissioner and two Election Commissioners — currently Gyanesh Kumar (CEC), SS Sandhu and Vivek Joshi.
Representation of the People Act 1950 governs electoral rolls; RP Act 1951 governs conduct of elections.

Mains framing

The row over Forms 6 and 8 and the citizenship declaration in the Special Intensive Revision illustrates the tension between the Election Commission's constitutional mandate to maintain accurate electoral rolls and the risk that documentation-heavy revision alienates genuine voters. The EC's defence rests on three planks: that all three SIR orders (June 24, 2025; Oct 27, 2025; May 14, 2026) were unanimously approved by the CEC and both Election Commissioners; that the declaration was introduced for voters' ease, sparing them other documents, and applied uniformly across states/UTs; and that the Supreme Court's May 27, 2026 verdict upheld its power to add the declaration. Critics, led by Rahul Gandhi, allege 'vote chori' and procedural anomalies and point to objections by Commissioners Joshi (May 16) and Sandhu (Aug 13) — though the timing of these objections, after the orders were signed and after the apex court ruling, is itself contested. The episode underlines why decisions of a multi-member Commission need transparent, contemporaneous recording of dissent, why platforms like ECINET must demonstrably preserve the statutory autonomy of EROs, AEROs, BLOs, DEOs and CEOs, and why public communication with electors on forms and documentation must precede, not follow, controversy.

Key terms

SIR (Special Intensive Revision): EC's phase-wise intensive revision of electoral rolls, begun with Bihar and extended to a dozen and then 19 states/UTs.
Form 6: Application for registration as a new elector in the electoral roll.
Form 8: Form used for shifting of an elector from outside the state/UT where enrolment is sought.
ECINET: EC's decentralised digital platform where field officers perform statutory roll functions using unique IDs and passwords.
RP Act 1950 and RP Act 1951: Representation of the People Acts governing preparation of electoral rolls and the conduct of elections respectively.
EROs / AEROs / BLOs / DEOs / CEOs: Electoral Registration Officers, their assistants, Booth Level Officers, District Election Officers and Chief Electoral Officers — the field machinery of roll revision.

Practice questions

Examine the constitutional and statutory basis of the Election Commission's power to prescribe forms and declarations during a Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls.
Dissent within a multi-member Election Commission can strengthen or weaken institutional credibility. Discuss with reference to the SIR orders of 2025-26.
How can digital platforms such as ECINET improve electoral roll management while safeguarding the statutory autonomy of field-level election officers?

Grounded only in the source report — figures and dates are the source's, not inferred.

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