Lawyer-activist Prashanth Bhushan has accused the Election Commission of India (EC) of acting like the “Election Morcha” of the Bharatiya Janata Party.

Addressing a press conference at the Ernakulam Press Club on Friday (September 3, 2025), Mr. Bhushan slammed the EC for assuming powers to include or exclude individuals from the electoral rolls on various arbitrary grounds, particularly citizenship, during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

However, the EC’s own rules state that anyone seeking enrolment as a new voter only needs to produce a document proving residence and age, which the Aadhaar card satisfies and has previously been accepted. Regarding citizenship, the applicant is required only to submit a self-declaration affirming Indian citizenship, without any additional documentation. If the declaration is found to be false, the applicant would be prosecuted.

Determining citizenship

During the SIR in Assam, the ECI had instructed its officials that they could not determine an individual’s citizenship, which could only be referred to the Foreigners Tribunals or the Government of India. Officials were explicitly told they could not exclude anyone on the grounds of citizenship on their own. Yet this time, the EC appears to be violating every rule of transparency and its own guidelines during the SIR.

Even earlier, the EC had violated guidelines regarding the distribution of Form 21, which indicates how many people voted at a booth. This form must be provided to all booth-level agents of political parties. “We have been asking them if it can be given to political parties, why is it not being made available in the public domain?” Mr. Bhushan asked.

Mr. Bhushan also decried the detention of climate activist Sonam Wangchuk, who has been leading protests demanding statehood for Ladakh and the extension of constitutional protections under the Sixth Schedule. He said Mr. Wangchuk was detained under the National Security Act on the grounds that his presence posed a threat to peace, when in fact, his presence was the way-forward for restoring peace and ending violence.

Instead, the government, BJP IT Cell, and individuals associated with the administration have defamed him by labelling him a Chinese agent and anti-national. As a result, public anger in Ladakh is growing against the government, and autonomous bodies in the region have reportedly refused to engage in dialogue with the government unless Mr. Wangchuk is released, Mr. Bhushan said.