23 Opposition Parties Send Letter to Chief Justice Over SIR

A coalition of twenty-three opposition parties and one independent member of parliament sent a joint letter to Chief Justice of India Surya Kant on Tuesday, formally raising concerns about the Election Commission's Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and other election-related issues. The move implements a decision taken during a meeting of the opposition INDIA alliance on June 8.

Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh confirmed the action in a social media post, stating that a joint letter signed by 23 parties and one independent was sent to the Chief Justice. He said the opposition bloc is anchored in "SURE," an acronym for Solidarity, Unity, and Resistance. The signatories include prominent INDIA bloc constituents such as the Congress, Trinamool Congress, Samajwadi Party, and Rashtriya Janata Dal. Notably, the Aam Aadmi Party and the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, which had not attended the June 8 meeting, also added their signatures to the letter, as confirmed by Trinamool Congress MP Derek O'Brien.

While the full contents of the four-page letter have not been made public, opposition figures have outlined its general thrust. They allege the SIR process has been...