2 hours ago A starring journalists' assemblage successful India has condemned what it says is the denial of voting and passport rights to a erstwhile editor.
R Rajagopal, who worked astatine The Telegraph newspaper, says, external his passport renewal was held up aft his sanction was removed from the electoral rotation successful West Bengal during a controversial elector database revision.
Known arsenic the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), the workout is being carried retired by the Election Commission of India (ECI) to place ineligible voters. Critics accidental it has wrongly removed millions of eligible voters, a complaint the ECI rejects.
In a connection connected Sunday, the Editors Guild of India said Rajagopal's lawsuit "highlights the misery that millions of Indians are being enactment through" due to the fact that of the SIR exercise.
It added that if an influential nationalist fig similar Rajagopal could beryllium stripped of his voting rights, the plight of mean Indians was apt to beryllium acold worse.
The ECI has not publically responded to the circumstantial allegations astir Rajagopal. The BBC has reached retired to officials for comment.
Since the SIR workout began connected 4 November 2025 crossed 12 states and federally administered territories, astir 60 cardinal names person been removed from the electoral rolls.
Around 9 cardinal of those were successful West Bengal. Rajagopal is among the thousands who person appealed the determination successful court.
Another signifier of the workout is nether mode successful 16 states and 3 federally-administered territories.
In an nonfiction published by quality website The Wire, Rajagopal wrote that contempt surviving successful Kolkata's Ballygunge constituency for much than 25 years, his sanction was removed due to the fact that neither his nor his father's sanction could beryllium recovered successful the 2002 electoral rolls.
The SIR process verifies existent elector records against the 2002 electoral rolls, the past clip specified a nationwide revision was carried out.
Rajagopal wrote that his sanction had been removed contempt being a elector since 2010 and serving arsenic exertion of the Kolkata-based The Telegraph for 7 years.
"No crushed was furnished for my exclusion [from the voters' list] adjacent aft I submitted my matriculation certificate, and my entreaty is present pending earlier 1 of the tribunals constituted pursuant to the Supreme Court's directions," helium alleged successful the article.
He said authorities aboriginal told him constabulary verification for his passport renewal could not beryllium completed due to the fact that his sanction had been removed from the electoral roll.
"I was puzzled due to the fact that I could not find immoderate nationalist papers that listed the elector individuality paper arsenic a mandatory papers for passport renewal," helium wrote.
The BBC has reached retired to the Election Commission for a effect to these allegations.
"If idiosyncratic who spent his nonrecreational beingness successful journalism and edited a comparatively well-known paper tin brushwood specified difficulties, 1 tin lone ideate what the genuinely marginalised indispensable endure," Rajagopal added.
Rajagopal's lawsuit has drawn wide attraction connected societal media, with journalists and absorption leaders expressing enactment and urging the ECI to reconstruct his voting rights.
In a station connected X, seasoned writer Rajdeep Sardesai said helium stood successful solidarity with Rajagopal.
"Scary portion is this could hap to anyone!" helium wrote.
Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate alleged that Rajagopal was paying a terms for his journalism and for demanding accountability.
Meanwhile, Communist Party of India (Marxist)'s General Secretary MA Baby said his enactment had "warned that the SIR workout would disenfranchise the mediocre and susceptible sections of our country".
"But now, adjacent an exertion of repute and an acclaimed writer similar R Rajagopal has been denied his close to vote," helium wrote connected X.
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