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New Delhi: On January 26, Mir Hajibhai Kasambhai Rathod, a folk musician from Gujarat received the Padma Shri award, India’s fourth-highest civilian award, on the Republic Day. A day later, Rathod’s name in the electoral list drew objections from a local political leader. The leader, a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), alleged that Rathod was not a native of the Junagadh village, where he is a voter.

However, Rathod is not the only one being pushed out of electoral rolls abruptly.

Several Indian voters are finding themselves turfed out through the exercise of ‘Special Intensive Revision’ (SIR) of electoral rolls. The SIR, which the Election Commission of India (ECI) said was aimed at updating voter lists across various states, has instead led to a heated debate about how the exercise is actually excluding voters. 

Demolishing voters not just homes

In November 2025, the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) along with police launched a mega demolition drive to clear illegal encroachments at Ahmedabad’s Isanpur lake.

According to AMC, of the 96,000 square metres of government land at the lake site, nearly 30% (28,800 square metres) is cited as “encroached” and the November drive launched was to clear 925 illegal residential structures. This is the second mega demolition drive in the city after the local administration cleared alleged encroachments on nearly 1.25 lakh square metres of land around the city’s Chandola lake area in April 2025.

However, along with clearing homes and emptying the Isanpur area of alleged encroachers, the drive also scattered locals living there – and subsequently, their votes too.

Santosh Sinh Rathod, an Ahmedabad-based RTI and electoral reform activist, looks carefully at the timing of this demolition. Rathod, who was actively interacting with the victims of demolition in Isanpur says that while the SIR is being conducted after at least two decades, there are guidelines that must be adhered to. 

Rathod, who sought information under the RTI from the election commission about the SIR guidelines of 2002 said that the 2002 revision did not require voters to provide any proof of their presence in earlier lists, including the 1995 SIR. The RTI also revealed that while the current SIR places........

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