What the BJP says about the 13‑crore number
According to the party, the "13 crore" statistic quoted by the opposition does not denote voters who have been permanently erased from the electoral register. Those names appear in the draft list because they fall under classifications such as deceased, migrated, long‑absent, or duplicate entries. They remain in a temporary pool that can be contested through the claims‑and‑objections stage before any final deletion is confirmed.
Clarifications on Form 6 and the revision workflow
Responding to new criticism concerning Form 6—the application used to request inclusion in the electoral roll—the BJP emphasized that the core template remains unchanged. A fresh declaration has merely been appended to simplify the voter‑application process. The party also underscored that the election apparatus continues to function through its long‑standing, decentralized structure, with state election officers retaining complete legal authority.
Moreover, the BJP pointed out that approximately 2.37 crore young citizens have been added to the rolls since June 2025, reinforcing that the revision exercise is a routine update rather than a mass voter purge.
The broader controversy surrounding the Special Intensive Revision (SIR)
The Special Intensive Revision (SIR) has turned into a flashpoint in parliamentary debates. Opposition parties contend that the sheer volume of names absent from the draft rolls signals a systematic exclusion, while the Election Commission has initiated remedial drives in states where the exercise is complete to enrol any eligible individuals who may have been missed.
For the BJP, the heart of the dispute lies in terminology. It maintains that "flagged" names in the draft stage are not synonymous with "deleted" names in the final roll. The ongoing claims‑and‑objections period will ultimately decide which entries survive the verification process.
