Gandhi and 10 Opposition Leaders File Supreme Court Petition

Rahul Gandhi and 10 other opposition leaders have filed a writ petition in the Supreme Court challenging alleged large-scale voter deletions and irregularities in the ongoing revision of electoral rolls, escalating the INDIA bloc’s campaign against the Election Commission of India. The petition concerns the Special Intensive Revision, or SIR, a process to update voter lists. The petitioners allege the exercise has involved irregularities and deletions of eligible voters. Those claims have not been independently established in the material available. The petition’s specific requests for relief were not reproduced in the reports reviewed. The 11 petitioners include Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav and Trinamool Congress leader Saugata Roy, alongside leaders from other INDIA bloc parties. The bloc has also demanded the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, whom its leaders accuse of overseeing an unfair process. The filing came as opposition leaders gathered in New Delhi for a march toward the Supreme Court. The procession was halted at a barricaded road roughly 600 meters from the court, according to reports.