SIR

The "highest-ever poll participation since Independence" in Bengal and Tamil Nadu was commended by the Election Commission

The objective of SIR is simple and non-negotiable: no eligible Indian citizen should be left out, and no ineligible, duplicate, deceased, or shifted person should remain on the list.

In the BBC article headlined, “Political turmoil in Indian border state as nine million lose voting rights”, Bhattacharya pushed a border state panic narrative and framed the name deletions as a politically motivated “loss of voting rights” that could “shape state policies”. Staying true to the objective of the propaganda piece, the Kolkata-based ‘independent journalist’ emphasised on the imaginary targeting of Muslims.

Initially, the EC deleted 58.25 lakh voters who were found to be deceased, absent, shifted, or had duplicate entries in the draft rolls published last December.

The probe agency’s preliminary findings in the case indicate a simultaneous emergence of demonstration and road blockades across multiple locations, pointing to prior planning and strategic execution by an organised network rather than a ‘protest’ driven by organic anger over SIR.