India’s mass voter purge is hollowing out democracy

Thousands of protesters in New Delhi demanded the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar after more than 130 million names were removed from India’s electoral rolls. The deletions stem from the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR), an unprecedented exercise that the author describes as arbitrary and excessive. Muslims, women, migrants and other marginalised groups have been disproportionately affected, while the BJP’s election victories in Bihar and West Bengal have also come under scrutiny. The Election Commission and the ruling party defend the revision as “purification”, rhetoric Fazal says threatens equal political voice for citizens.