SIR is illegal and needs to be reversed: former CEC Quraishi

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S.Y. Quraishi, former Chief Election Commissioner of India, Raja Sekhar Vundru, former Additional Chief Secretary, Haryana Government, Sanjeev Chopra, author and historian and Nistula Hebbar, Political Editor, The Hindu , during the conversation at an event for the launch of the book titled "The Delimitation Debate, The Union and its Units" at the India International Centre in New Delhi on September 23, 2026. | Photo Credit: Shiv Kumar Pushpakar

The special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls is illegal and needs to be reversed, former Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) S.Y. Quraishi said on Wednesday (September 23, 2026).

Mr. Quraishi made these remarks at an event to launch the book ‘The Delimitation Debate: The Union and its Units’, published by The Hindu Group. The book contains essays that examine critical questions of representation, federalism and demographic change.

Speaking at the same event, Communist Party of India (Marxist) MP John Brittas said the issues of SIR and delimitation are interlinked as the ruling party wants these tailored to make the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) win.

Congress communications chief Jairam Ramesh said the Narendra Modi government has not prorogued the Monsoon Session of Parliament even after 41 days of Parliament being adjourned sine die, as it is keen to bring the Delimitation Bill during Navratri.

Speaking at a panel discussion, moderated by The Hindu ’s Political Editor Nistula Hebbar, Mr. Quraishi referred to the newsbreak by The Indian Express in which it was mentioned that there were major differences between Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and the other two Election Commissioners, Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi.

“I have been saying from the beginning, about a year and a half ago, that it is highly undesirable. And today it has come out that it was illegal,” Mr. Quraishi said.

The former CEC said that purity of the electoral roll is a legal requirement, and for the last 75 years, the Election Commission has been been doing it.

Questioning the procedure adopted for the on-going SIR exercise, Mr. Quraishi described it as “dubious”.

“I have been opposing it, and now today’s revelations in The Indian Express have actually exposed the fact that the Election Commissioners themselves have been questioning the procedures being followed. In fact, it has raised a serious question of the legality of the decision. And all illegal decisions need to be reversed,” he said.

His co-panelist Sanjeev Chopra, former director of the Lal Bahadur Shashtri Academy of Administration, argued for smaller States for a more representative democracy.

Raja Sekhar Vundru, former Additional Chief Secretary, Haryana Government, argued for a system like France, where there can be two rounds of voting so that the ultimate winner of an election should have at least 50% of the votes polled.

A separate panel discussion, moderated by senior deputy editor Sobhana Nair, which included Mr. Ramesh, Mr.