Binish Thomas (Special Correspondent)
What is happening in India? :
The Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter lists has removed crores of names from draft rolls.
Delhi was locked down on October 10 to stop protests by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, with nearly 40,000 security personnel deployed.
How many citizens are out of the voter list?:
About 13 crore names were dropped from draft rolls across roughly 30 states and UTs.
Many are dead, shifted or duplicate entries, and names can be restored through claims, so these are not all eligible citizens. Per the SIR vote tracker, the state-wise deletions are:
State wise :
Uttar Pradesh 2.88 crore.
Maharashtra 2.06 crore.
Karnataka 1.07 crore.
Tamil Nadu 97.34 lakh.
Gujarat 73.59 lakh.
Telangana 71.09 lakh.
Bihar 65.32 lakh.
Andhra Pradesh 44.65 lakh.
Jharkhand 43.18 lakh.
Madhya Pradesh 42.72 lakh.
Kerala 24.08 lakh.
Are the Delhi strikes spoiling the economy? Is the closure hurting industry?:
By trade-body estimates, yes. The CTI puts October’s losses at nearly Rs.3,000 crore: about Rs 2,000 crore on October 10 and Rs 1,000 crore more from blockades, metro closures and restrictions between October 13 and 16. Wholesale buyers from neighbouring cities could not reach Delhi.
Another report warns of a ₹4,000 crore hit over ten days, with logistics and hospitality hit during the peak festive and wedding season.
These are estimates, not official figures. The shutdowns were not caused by a blanket government order closing markets.
Why has the government not addressed the protests?:
The government has mainly relied on restrictions. The Supreme Court told the Centre that curbs must meet Article 19(2), ordered metro and internet services to run normally, and issued contempt notices to senior officials, including Delhi’s police commissioner. In July, by contrast, the Centre held formal talks with the CJP over the NEET paper leak.
Why is Gyanesh Kumar protected with immunity?:
Section 16 of the 2023 CEC Act bars civil and criminal proceedings for official acts, and the Supreme Court agreed in January to examine a challenge to it. The immunity is statutory, not constitutional.
The Constitution still allows removal through a process like a judge’s impeachment.
The Rajya Sabha Chairman and Lok Sabha Speaker rejected the Opposition’s removal motion in April.
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor says the Opposition is now drafting new articles of impeachment.
A report says two Election Commissioners raised SIR objections 14 times, and a former Kerala chief secretary claims Kumar once urged him to contest as a BJP candidate.
The Commission says the SIR order was approved unanimously. The BJP says the Opposition is attacking the electoral process because it has no other issues.
On elections, analyses of West Bengal, where the BJP won 207 of 294 seats, found deletions exceeded the BJP’s winning margin in 105 seats (Scroll) and 150 seats overall (The Wire).
Other analysts caution that this shows the deletions could have mattered, not that they did. In Uttar Pradesh, Akhilesh Yadav claimed the deletions hit BJP booths.
