The poll panel says a separate declaration was attached during the special revision. The Supreme Court had said it did not approve a change to the form.
India’s Election Commission called opposition leader Rahul Gandhi’s claim that Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar had “illegally and unilaterally changed” Form 6 misleading. The commission said the application for adding eligible voters to electoral rolls had not itself been altered. A separate declaration was attached during the special revision in Bihar.
The dispute intensified after the Supreme Court said it had not approved any modification to Form 6 and asked who had changed it. The commission cited its order of 24 June 2025 for the Bihar revision, which it said was approved unanimously and later upheld by the court in a judgment dated 27 May 2026.
According to the commission, the declaration sought additional information, including details about an applicant’s parents. It was later removed from the commission’s online portals. The online form and declaration used one-time password verification together, which may have made them appear to be a single document. Outside the special revision, forms prescribed by the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960 apply.
The commission also rejected claims that it had withdrawn a press note dated 26 September, saying the document remained available. The court’s observation concerned approval of Form 6 itself, while the commission defended the separate declaration used in the special revision.