Indian journalists condemn 'denial' of voting and passport rights of prominent editor

A leading journalists' body in India has condemned what it says is the denial of voting and passport rights to a former editor. R Rajagopal, who worked at The Telegraph newspaper, says , external his passport renewal was held up after his name was removed from the electoral roll in West Bengal during a controversial voter list revision . Known as the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), the exercise is being carried out by the Election Commission of India (ECI) to identify ineligible voters. Critics say it has wrongly removed millions of eligible voters, a charge the ECI rejects. In a statement on Sunday, the Editors Guild of India said Rajagopal's case "highlights the misery that millions of Indians are being put through" because of the SIR exercise. It added that if an influential public figure like Rajagopal could be stripped of his voting rights, the plight of ordinary Indians was likely to be far worse. The ECI has not publicly responded to the specific allegations about Rajagopal. The BBC has reached out to officials for comment. Since the SIR exercise began on 4 November 2025 across 12 states and federally administered territories, about 60 million names have been removed from the electoral rolls. Around nine million of those were in West Bengal. Rajagopal is among the thousands who have appealed the decision in court. Another phase of the exercise is under way in 16 states and three federally-administered territories. …