Goa SIR Row: Opposition slams EC after report claims 97 eligible voters left out of final roll

A report claimed 97 voters in Goa, cleared as eligible by EROs during SIR, were left out of the final electoral roll as EC's centralised ECINet system did not allow rollback of deletion. Goa CEO allegedly sent 8 emails seeking correction. Opposition attacked CEC Gyanesh Kumar, EC said all SIR decisi

Updated : Sep 24, 2026, 02:50 PM IST

The Election Commission has come under fresh opposition fire after a report claimed that 97 voters in Goa, who were found eligible by ground-level officers, were excluded from the final electoral roll published after the Special Intensive Revision (SIR).

According to a report in The Indian Express, 97 voters in Goa were found eligible for inclusion in the 2026 final electoral roll by Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) after field verification. However, they were left out of the final roll.

The report alleged that the exclusion happened because the Election Commission's centralised software ECINet, controlled by its IT division in Delhi, did not allow EROs to reverse earlier deletion decisions.

It further claimed that Goa Chief Electoral Officer Sanjay Goel sent eight emails in seven days seeking a facility to roll back deletions, and the Deputy Election Commissioner had directed the IT division to enable the correction. The facility was allegedly not provided before the final roll was published.

The Congress launched a direct attack on Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the report.

The party alleged on X that Gyanesh Kumar had "hijacked the entire system" at the behest of the Prime Minister and was carrying out "anti-national acts" like vote theft.

Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said under the Representation of the People Act, EROs have statutory authority over electoral rolls. He alleged that in Goa, "in an illegal and centralising move, EROs' access to the ECINet software was restricted."

Ramesh said it proves that the "election process has been thoroughly compromised and vitiated" and reiterated the demand for Kumar's resignation.

Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor called the report "extremely serious" and said it involves depriving citizens of constitutional rights. He said the poll panel owes an apology and that rescinding the software is indispensable.

The development comes amid a row over another report that claimed Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had formally objected at least 14 times in 10 months to decisions taken under CEO Gyanesh Kumar, including those related to SIR.

The Election Commission disputed that report, saying differences of opinion are normal among Commissioners and that all decisions, including SIR, were taken unanimously.

The opposition has been questioning centralised control of electoral roll software, alleging it overrides statutory officials at the ground level.

The poll panel is yet to issue a detailed response on the specific Goa allegations.