NEW DELHI: Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday came down heavily on Lok Sabha leader of opposition Rahul Gandhi and accused him of misleading the public over the Supreme Court’s observation on Form 6 and the Election Commission’s decision on the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls.BJP national spokesperson Sambit Patra compared Rahul’s claims to the Congress leader’s earlier statements on the Rafale issue.“Rahul Gandhi misled the public on two counts. First, he claimed that Form 6 was illegal – specifically mentioning the Bharatiya Janata Party in this context. However, the Court did not declare Form 6 illegal today. It noted that the petition mentioned a modification to Form 6, so the Court said it would look into the matter,” Patra said.“We had not consented to any such modification. If any modification has indeed taken place, that will become clear only after a notice is issued. Yet, when we read the detailed order and look at the Election Commission’s press release dated September 26, 2026, it becomes evident that the Commission had clearly stated there were no changes to Form 6 and that the Supreme Court had validated the declaration form attached to it,” he said.This comes hours after Rahul Gandhi alleged that the CEC had changed Form 6 “illegally and unilaterally”, citing the Supreme Court’s observation which came earlier in the day.“It is now established beyond doubt that Gyanesh Kumar changed Form 6 illegally and unilaterally. This is just one more proof of him abusing his position to help the BJP,” Rahul said.“He and everyone else involved in this criminal assault on our democracy will be held accountable,” he added.The Congress leader also shared a screenshot of the September 26 Election Commission statement which read: “The declaration attached to Form 6 for SIR has been upheld by the Hon’ble Supreme Court. For non-SIR period, the Forms applicable as per Rules (the Registration of Electors Rules 1960) will be used.”In its response, the EC said the order for the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar, issued on June 24, 2025, had received the unanimous approval of the Commission and was subsequently upheld by the Supreme Court in its judgment dated May 27, 2026.EC officials also clarified that Form 6 itself had not been changed, but that a declaration had been attached to the form under the Bihar SIR order, as quoted by PTI.This came after the Supreme Court said it had not approved any modification to Form 6 used by the EC during the SIR exercise in various states.“Any modification to Form 6 has not been approved by us. Let’s be clear. When records are produced, we would like to see who has modified it,” a bench headed by Chief Justice Surya Kant and comprising Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana said.
What is Form 6
Form 6 is the application used by eligible voters for inclusion in the electoral roll.The declaration was attached to Form 6 during the Bihar SIR, which began with the EC’s June 24, 2025, order. The declaration sought additional details, including information about the applicant’s parents.
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According to EC officials, the form itself remained unchanged, while the declaration was a separate document attached to it for the SIR exercise. Outside SIR, the forms prescribed under the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, apply.The declaration was later withdrawn from the EC’s online portals.The online version of Form 6 and the declaration also used a single OTP for both, rather than requiring separate OTP verification, which had led to suggestions that the declaration was part of Form 6.
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