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The Editors Guild of India on June 28 condemned what it described as the denial of voting and passport rights to R Rajagopal, the former editor of The Telegraph newspaper in Kolkata, as part of the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls that has deleted millions of names across India. Rajagopal has been unable to renew his passport for over 100 days after an adverse police report tied to his exclusion from the voter list, according to his account published in The Aidem. The guild urged the Election Commission of India to restore his rights, citing the case as emblematic of broader problems in the bureaucratic process.
According to a statement from the Editors Guild of India issued by its president Sanjay Kapoor and general secretary, the organization condemns the manner in which Rajagopal is being treated by the bureaucracy that gets to decide who is an Indian citizen and who is not. The statement noted that despite decades of work in the public domain as a journalist and editor, Rajagopal finds himself not only disenfranchised as a voter due to the deletion of his name from the electoral rolls but also unable to renew his passport for more than 100 days allegedly due to an adverse report from the Kolkata Police. It added that if it could happen to someone like Rajagopal, a known public figure, the fate of others who have similarly been disenfranchised by a bureaucratic stroke of the pen and lacking the voice to seek redressal can only be imagined.
Rajagopal, who served as editor of The Telegraph between 2016 and 2023, detailed his experience in a first-person article, explaining that his name and that of his father could not be traced in the 2002 voters list despite his residency in Ballygunge for more than 25 years and his history of voting since 2010. He submitted his matriculation certificate and other documents in appeal, but the matter remains pending before a tribunal, he wrote. The journalist also revealed that he missed his daughter’s wedding in San Francisco in April after biometric formalities for the passport were completed on March 19 but police verification was not cleared.
Indian Express reported that opposition leaders reacted strongly to the development, with Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate describing it as the slow erosion of basic citizenship rights. Communist Party of India leader MA Baby warned that the SIR exercise could disenfranchise poor and vulnerable sections of society, according to coverage in multiple outlets. The reactions came after Rajagopal’s public note on social media highlighted his state of civic uncertainty.
The Special Intensive Revision, conducted by the Election Commission of India in several states including West Bengal, has resulted in the deletion of approximately 9 million names in the state and around 60 million nationwide, figures that various media reports have cited from official exercises. Rajagopal’s case has drawn attention to how the requirement to link current records to older electoral rolls can create obstacles for long-term residents. The Election Commission has not issued a public response to the guild’s statement or the specific case as of June 29.
Additional context from The Hindu indicated that Rajagopal spent months reconstructing family records after the adverse report linked to the voter list omission stalled his passport application. Government sources have indicated that a passport cannot be issued without satisfactory police verification, The Print reported separately. Rajagopal has joined more than 9 million other residents of West Bengal in fighting for the restoration of voting rights through the appeals process.
