IndiaPosted at: Sep 28 2026 11:36AM


Jairam Ramesh demands CEC's resignation, says ECI cannot decide Indian citizenship

New Delhi, Sep 28 (UNI) Congress general secretary in-charge of communications Jairam Ramesh on Monday intensified his attack on the Election Commission of India (ECI) over the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, asserting that determining the citizenship of Indians is not the constitutional responsibility of the poll panel and demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
Reacting to an interview with former Supreme Court judge Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia published on Monday, Ramesh said the retired judge had categorically reaffirmed that determining citizenship was not the Election Commission's task. "The ECI is Election Commission of India, not Establisher of Citizenship of Indians," Ramesh said in a post on social media platform X.
Ramesh referred to Justice Dhulia's observation that the Supreme Court had held in several judgments that determining citizenship was not the Election Commission's job and that questions relating to citizenship fell within the domain of the Ministry of Home Affairs. Justice Dhulia also said that while a voter has to be a citizen, "the problem is the enormous conditions that have been imposed" in the SIR exercise.
The Congress leader said Indian citizenship is determined under the Citizenship Act, 1955, as amended by Parliament from time to time, and alleged that the Chief Election Commissioner, despite being a constitutional functionary, had "deliberately and clearly violated the Constitution in letter and spirit" on citizenship and other electoral issues.
Ramesh further accused the Election Commission of "illegally amending Form 6" in a manner that, he alleged, could disenfranchise young Gen Z voters. Form 6 is used by individuals seeking inclusion of their names in electoral rolls and is therefore particularly important for first-time voters seeking registration.
The Congress has consistently opposed the ECI's SIR exercise, arguing that requirements relating to citizenship documentation could result in genuine voters being excluded from electoral rolls.
The Election Commission, however, has maintained that only Indian citizens are eligible to be registered as voters and has defended its authority to undertake verification of electoral rolls.
During proceedings relating to the 2025 Bihar SIR, the ECI told the Supreme Court that its responsibility to ensure that only citizens are registered as voters flowed from Article 326 of the Constitution and provisions of the Representation of the People Act, 1950.
Justice Dhulia, who retired from the Supreme Court in August 2025 and had headed a vacation bench during the Bihar SIR proceedings, reiterated in his latest interview that "this is not the Election Commission of India's job".
He also described as "a serious matter" reports that the two Election Commissioners had objected on record 14 times in 10 months to decisions or steps taken by the Chief Election Commissioner, while cautioning that the information available was not sufficient to draw a conclusion.
Ramesh, however, went further in his political attack, alleging that the CEC was functioning as "a front for the diabolical PM-HM duo" and describing his continuation in office as "an affront to the Constitution of India". He asserted that "the first step in the long road to reclaiming our democracy is the resignation of the CEC".
The latest Congress attack comes amid an intensifying political and legal dispute over the ECI's SIR programme, the procedures being used to verify electors and the safeguards required to ensure that eligible citizens are not excluded from electoral rolls.
The Supreme Court had earlier allowed the Bihar revision to proceed while raising questions over the citizenship-related aspects of the exercise and asking the ECI to consider documents including Aadhaar, voter ID and ration cards.
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Tags: #Jairam Ramesh demands CEC's resignation# says ECI cannot decide Indian citizenship
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