# India's election crisis deepens as millions lose voting rights

> A vast voter purge in India has removed 130 million people from electoral rolls, sparking protests and raising questions about the independence of the election commission.
- Title: India's election crisis deepens as millions lose voting rights
- Summary: A vast voter purge in India has removed 130 million people from electoral rolls, sparking protests and raising questions about the independence of the…
- Keywords: india, elections, voter disenfranchisement, special intensive revision, election commission, narendra modi, bharatiya janata party, supreme court of india, west bengal, electoral integrity, India's, election
- Source: TIME — https://time.com/article/2026/10/13/india-modi-protests-voter-removal-election-commission
- Author: Gautam Bhatia
- Published: 2026-10-13T11:45:00+00:00
- Read time: 3 min
- Topics: india, elections, voter disenfranchisement, special intensive revision, election commission, narendra modi, bharatiya janata party, supreme court of india, west bengal, electoral integrity
## Delhi under siege over voter purge
On Saturday, New Delhi was under siege. The Indian government deployed more than twenty thousand police and paramilitary personnel, barricaded the city center, and suspended internet access. More than seven thousand people were detained.
## Protesters return despite crackdown
Despite the crackdown, thousands turned out in Delhi on Monday to protest with even greater vigor. The repressive effort sought to deter a planned protest at Jantar Mantar, a traditional protest site in New Delhi.
## Two core demands from protesters
The protest centered on two core demands: the resignation of India's chief election commissioner and the rollback of a nationwide process known as Special Intensive Revision, or S I R.
## One hundred thirty million voters removed
The S I R ostensibly seeks to clean up and update electoral rolls but has removed one hundred thirty million Indians from the rolls, more than half the number of Americans eligible to vote in…
## Electoral revision announced in summer 2025
In summer 2025, several Indian states were about to hold elections for their state legislatures.The Election Commission announced an electoral revision, citing the need to clean up electoral rolls.Voters would be required to prove citizenship.
## Supreme Court delays ruling on legality
Civil society groups challenged the revisions before the Supreme Court of India in June 2025, questioning the Election Commission's power to undertake electoral revisions at such a scale.
## West Bengal loses nine million voters
In the eastern Indian state of West Bengal, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party had never won a state election, nine million people, around twelve percent of the electorate, found themselves excluded from…
## Court creates tribunals instead of ruling
Faced with exclusions and still unwilling to rule on the legality of the S I R, the Supreme Court created tribunals staffed by judicial officers to hear appeals from excluded voters.
## Ninety percent of appeals were wrongful removals
The West Bengal election went ahead using the new electoral rolls and the B J P won.Around ninety percent of the voters in West Bengal whose appeals were decided were eventually restored to the rolls.
## Supreme Court upholds entire exercise in 2026
In summer 2026, the Supreme Court finally issued its judgment and upheld the entire exercise.
## Exclusions linked to welfare and passports
The new B J P government in West Bengal threatened to cut off welfare benefits for people excluded from the electoral rolls through the S I R.
## Journalist Ritika Chopra exposes unilateral decisions
In late September, investigative reporter Ritika Chopra of the Indian Express revealed that the chief election commissioner had been taking decisions unilaterally, often over the objections of, and sometimes without involving, the other commissioners.
## Patterns of disproportionate exclusions emerge
As the S I R proceeded across multiple states, patterns emerged: disproportionate exclusions among vulnerable and marginalized people and of religious minorities, especially Muslims.
## Institutional failures leave trust in doubt
The story of the S I R is both an account of large-scale voter disenfranchisement in India and one of institutional crisis.

> A long shadow hangs over electoral integrity in India.
## Key takeaway

India's Special Intensive Revision removed 130 million voters from electoral rolls, the Supreme Court upheld the process despite evidence of wrongful exclusions, and the government cracked down on protests demanding the chief election commissioner's resignation.