The opposition in Goa accused Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party of attempting to influence the upcoming elections by using the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls, demanding the exercise be rolled back.
They cited reports that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had flagged problems linked to the deletion of names during the SIR, including in Goa, calling it sabotage. Goa Pradesh Congress Committee working president Sunil Kawthankar said the BJP was trying to win elections through the SIR, arguing that it would be difficult for the party to regain power in states such as Goa.
Kawthankar added that the deletion of valid voters amounted to sabotage and that the Election Commission had become an arm of the BJP. He demanded the SIR exercise be reversed and claimed that the BJP was rattled by Congress support nationwide.
Goa Forward Party president Vijai Sardesai also demanded the immediate reinstatement of all deleted voters, except those deceased, citing that 1.8 lakh voters were removed. He warned that elections in Goa are decided by thin margins, sometimes fewer than 100 votes, and that deleting voters could lead to incorrect results in the 2027 elections. Sardesai argued that with polls approaching, the only viable solution was to roll back the entire SIR.
Opposition parties across the country have called for scrapping the SIR exercise and have attacked CEC Gyanesh Kumar, alleging he runs the poll panel as a one‑man autocracy and demanding his impeachment and arrest, citing a report in the Indian Express.
