A group of 124 retired civil servants—comprising former Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Foreign Service (IFS), and allied services officers—has issued a joint open letter to citizens.
The letter strongly defends the integrity of the Election Commission of India (ECI) and its Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process, while sharply rejecting political claims of vote rigging made without credible proof.
Tracing the Evolution of Indian Democracy
Reminding citizens of how far the nation’s democratic architecture has advanced, the former officers highlighted India’s journey away from the dark eras of booth capturing, ballot-box theft, and widespread polling violence. Today’s electoral mechanism, they emphasised, operates with robust, multi-layered checks and balances.
“A system cannot be honest when you win and rigged when you lose,” the letter noted, highlighting that under the very same Election Commission, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at the Centre has lost several state elections, as well as its single-party parliamentary majority in 2024.
The signatories pointed to several modern transparency safeguards currently in place:
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Polling Agents: Active participation of booth-level representatives from all contesting parties.
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Strict Physical Security: Multi-stage EVM sealing and heavily guarded strong rooms.
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Paper Verification: Paper trail auditing through Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) machines.
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Flawless Execution: Recent major exercises, such as the Bihar Assembly elections, recorded zero re-polling incidents alongside historic voter turnout levels.
Defending the Special Intensive Revision (SIR)
Addressing the opposition’s scepticism surrounding the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, the former bureaucrats argued that periodic cleaning of electoral lists is essential for maintaining accurate voter registries.
“An uncleaned roll does not protect the voter. It protects the fraudster,” the officers stated, urging political entities to engage constructively with official channels—including notices, hearings, and appeals—rather than making broad accusations. They further noted that the Supreme Court of India has scrutinised the SIR framework, prescribed additional safeguards, and repeatedly upheld the EC’s constitutional mandate.
Prominent Signatories Stand Firm
The signatories to the letter include distinguished public servants such as former Foreign Secretary Kanwal Sibal, former Ambassador Bhaswati Mukherjee, and former senior IAS officers R.D. Kapur, Samirendra Chatterjee, Gopal Krishna, Vivek Bhardwaj, Navneet Sehgal, and M. Madan Gopal.
In closing, the officers reminded all political parties and citizens that questioning democratic processes is every citizen’s right, but proving allegations remains the accuser’s duty. They urged critics to evaluate poll outcomes consistently—rather than casting doubt on the entire democratic framework solely when the election results fall short of expectations.
