Rahul Gandhi, chairman of the Congress of India (CCI), has questioned who at the Election Commission of India (ECI) ordered Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) to change the online version of Form 6, the application for fresh voter registration. Gandhi said the online form was changed “illegally” and questioned whether TCS approved the change and whether it was a matter of pressure on the company to implement it.
The issue is related to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls by the Election Commission. Form 6 is used by eligible citizens who wish to be added to electoral rolls as new voters. The voter services portal in the Election Commission offers Form 6 for new voter registration and also a separate form for making a declaration related to the SIR.
Rahul Gandhi Questions ECI And TCS
Gandhi raised the issue in a post on X, asking who in the poll panel instructed TCS to make the change. He also wondered who at the technology company signed off on it and whether anyone at TCS was pressured to carry out the alteration.
His comments came amid a wider dispute over an additional declaration related to Form 6 on the ECINET portal. The Congress leader’s questions followed reports that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had raised objections to aspects of the changes related to the SIR process.
The online Form 6 was changed illegally - as the EC's own Commissioners have recorded.
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) October 1, 2026
Who at the ECI ordered Tata Consultancy Services to make that change?
Who at TCS signed off on it? And were they pressured into doing it?
The question is whether the additional declaration was a modification of the statutory Form 6 or simply an additional document used during the electoral roll revision exercise.
What is the Form 6 row?
The additional declaration was about the electoral roll made during the previous SIR. It was required of applicants to provide information on whether their own name or that of a parent or grandparent was on the relevant previous electoral roll.
According to the internal dispute reported on the internal debate, Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi were against the manner in which the new declaration was adopted. Their objections were that changes to the prescribed statutory form could not be made in line with the legal process.
The Election Commission, however, maintained that the statutory Form 6 was not changed. It argued that, for the SIR process, a separate declaration called an annexure was attached. The Commission has also said that decisions related to the SIR were unanimously approved by the three Election Commissioners.
ECI Removes Additional Declaration In Some States
The Election Commission has now changed the way the additional declaration is used on its online system. In states where the SIR process has been completed, the additional SIR-related declaration is now removed from the ECINET application process, while it is still available in states where the revision exercise is in progress.
This distinction is crucial because the declaration is related to the SIR exercise and not to voter registration in all cases. The ECI's online portal continues to offer Form 6 as the route for new voter registration.
The Election Commission has defended its stance on the declaration, arguing that Form 6 has never been formally amended. So the issue is about what is legal and in what order the additional declaration was added to the online voter registration system.
SIR And The Larger Political Dispute
The Form 6 dispute comes at a time when the Congress-driven Opposition and the Election Commission are in the midst of a political battle over the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls.
Congress and other INDIA bloc parties have objected to the SIR exercise and the procedure by which voters are added and removed. The Election Commission, on the other hand, has claimed that the revision process is for the purposes of ensuring accurate electoral rolls and has said that it is legal.
The problem has also raised questions about the functioning and decision-making process of the Election Commission. Recent reports have also indicated that Election Commissioners disagree on some SIR-related decisions, and yet the Commission has said that their decision-making was unanimous.
Opposition Plans Further Protests
The Form 6 controversy is part of a larger Opposition campaign on electoral-roll revisions and the functioning of the Election Commission. INDIA bloc leaders have also announced protests and meetings to put their concerns on the poll.
Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge has also announced plans for a nationwide “Save Democracy March” at the district level. Opposition MPs are expected to march towards the Election Commission in Delhi, while INDIA bloc leaders are also scheduled to meet President Droupadi Murmu to express their concerns.
Rahul Gandhi’s questions have added another layer to the dispute over Form 6, ECINET, and the SIR process. The Congress leader’s central question is about the administrative chain behind the online change, and who approved it at the technology-provider level and what kind of change that was made.
The Election Commission maintains that the statutory Form 6 was not changed and that the additional declaration was an SIR-related annexure. The dispute over how the declaration was introduced and then removed will probably be part of the larger debate on electoral roll revision and the functioning of the poll panel.
