Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and 10 other leaders from the INDIA bloc have approached the Supreme Court against the Election Commission of India (ECI). Their petition raises concerns over alleged discrepancies in voter deletions and other issues related to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. The petition seeks the court’s intervention in examining the voter deletions carried out during the revision exercise. It also asks the Supreme Court to obtain records of the Election Commission’s decisions and order an independent investigation into the matter.

Rahul Gandhi Leads Petition With 10 INDIA Bloc Leaders

Several prominent Opposition leaders have joined Gandhi in filing the petition. They include Congress president and Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge, Trinamool Congress MP Saugata Roy and Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav. The other petitioners are Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejaswi Prasad Yadav, Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut, Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary MA Baby and Communist Party of India (CPI) general secretary D Raja. Jharkhand Mukti Morcha MP Mahua Majhi, Nationalist Congress Party (Sharad Pawar) MP Supriya Sule and Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) MP ET Mohammed Basheer have also joined the legal challenge. The leaders have collectively approached the court to seek scrutiny of the Election Commission’s actions during the SIR process.

Election Commission and Three Officials Named as Respondents

Advocate S Prasanna filed the petition on behalf of the Opposition leaders. The petition names the Election Commission of India as a respondent. It also names Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and the two other Election Commissioners, Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi. By naming the poll body and its three senior officials, the petition seeks judicial scrutiny of the decisions taken during the voter-list revision exercise.

Petition Seeks Records and Independent Investigation

The petition highlights alleged discrepancies in the deletion of voters during the SIR exercise. The petitioners want the Supreme Court to summon all records related to the Election Commission’s decisions on the matter. They have also sought an independent investigation into the alleged irregularities. The legal challenge centres on concerns over the voter-deletion process and the decisions taken by the poll body during the revision of electoral rolls.

Supreme Court Hearing Expected on Tuesday

The petition is likely to come up for hearing in the Supreme Court on Tuesday. The court’s consideration of the matter could bring further scrutiny to the Election Commission’s handling of the SIR exercise and the allegations raised by the INDIA bloc leaders.