The open letter, signed by 124 former IAS and IFS officers, defends the Election Commission of India's Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, insisting that accusations of vote rigging demand solid evidence.
Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar rolled out the SIR in March to cleanse the rolls, a move the Supreme Court upheld in 1995 and reaffirmed in a 2024 judgment that strengthened the commission's multi‑member structure.
In the 2025 Bihar Assembly election, the SIR proved its worth: no re‑polling occurred—a first for the state—and turnout hit 73%, with women voters surpassing 50% of the electorate for the first time.
Opposition leaders, among them former chief ministers Mamata Banerjee, Arvind Kejriwal, Pinarayi Vijayan and Manik Sarkar, were detained by police on Saturday while trying to join protests in Delhi, highlighting the high stakes of the debate.
The letter outlines safeguards—EVMs sealed in the presence of candidates’ agents, strong rooms monitored by both parties, and paper slip verification—that, the officers argue, make a coordinated fraud virtually impossible.
The letter calls on Parliament to scrutinise the SIR process, a demand that could trigger a legislative review of electoral reforms in the coming weeks.