‘Rigged when you lose?’ 124 ex-civil servants rally behind Election Commission amid SIR row

NEW DELHI: A group of 124 former civil servants and diplomats has backed the Election Commission of India (ECI) and its Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, urging citizens not to accept allegations of electoral malpractice without credible evidence. The open letter comes amid protests by opposition groups and the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and the poll panel.

The signatories urged political parties to allow the Election Commission to discharge its constitutional responsibilities without being undermined by political disputes. They warned that allegations made without clear evidence could erode public confidence in democratic institutions.

“A system cannot be honest when you win and rigged when you lose,” the letter said, pointing to electoral defeats suffered by the BJP in several states under the same Election Commission. The signatories also cited the party's failure to secure an outright majority in the 2024 Lok Sabha election, arguing that the same poll body had overseen results that went against the ruling party.

The officers defended the SIR as an exercise aimed at improving the accuracy of electoral rolls by identifying duplicate registrations and removing the names of deceased voters.

Citing the revision conducted in Bihar in 2025, the letter referred to Election Commission figures indicating that around 22 lakh deceased electors and seven lakh duplicate registrations had been identified during the exercise. The revision also saw 21.53 lakh eligible electors added through Form 6, while the final electoral roll contained approximately 7.42 crore electors.

The signatories called on citizens to scrutinise allegations of electoral wrongdoing carefully and rely on credible evidence rather than claims that could weaken trust in the electoral process.