‘Doubt Is Not Proof’: 124 Former Bureaucrats Defend Election Commission In Open Letter

Amid the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) protests in Delhi, 124 former IAS and IFS officers have issued an open letter defending the Election Commission (EC) and the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. The letter said that anyone alleging electoral fraud must provide credible evidence to substantiate the claims.

Citing safeguards in the electoral process, past election results and the 2025 Bihar Assembly elections, the former bureaucrats challenged allegations questioning the credibility of the poll body and the voter-list revision exercise.

The signatories said India’s electoral system had evolved beyond the era of booth capturing, ballot-box tampering and election-related violence. They pointed to measures such as the sealing of electronic voting machines (EVMs), security arrangements at strong rooms and verification through voter-verified paper audit trails (VVPATs).

Referring to the 2025 Bihar Assembly elections, the letter claimed that the polls recorded the highest voter turnout since 1951 and were conducted without any re-poll.

Former Bureaucrats Question Allegations Of Electoral Fraud

The former officials questioned the tendency to describe an electoral process as fair when a party wins but label it “fixed” or “rigged” when it loses.

They cited instances in which the ruling party lost elections in Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Telangana, Jharkhand, and Jammu and Kashmir under the existing electoral system. They also pointed to the party’s loss of its majority in the 2024 general elections.

The letter recalled an earlier era marked by the use of guns, the influence of strongmen, ballot-box looting and booth capturing, which the signatories described as the real meaning of electoral “rigging”. It added that Parliament criminalised these practices in 1989.

Highlighting the 2025 Bihar Assembly elections, the former bureaucrats said the polls were held peacefully without re-polls, with the highest voter turnout since 1951 and a record number of women voters.

“In a democracy, every citizen has the right to raise questions, but it is the responsibility of the accuser to prove the allegations. Allegations made in the air through a press conference cannot be verified or answered. If anyone has any objections, they should file an election petition with an affidavit,” the letter stated.

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SIR In Bihar: Letter Cites Dead, Duplicate And Migrated Voters

Defending the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in Bihar, the former officials said the state’s voter list had not been updated since 2003.

According to the letter, the exercise identified approximately 2.2 million dead voters, 700,000 duplicate names and millions of people who had permanently migrated.

The signatories argued that cleaning up electoral rolls was intended to prevent fraud rather than deprive citizens of their rights. They also described the process for removing names as transparent.

The letter further stated that the Supreme Court upheld the Election Commission’s powers on May 27, 2026.

Former Officials Appeal For Support For BLOs

The former bureaucrats also appealed to the public not to accuse Anganwadi workers, teachers and booth-level officers (BLOs) of fraud without evidence.

They noted that these workers carry out door-to-door visits as part of the electoral process and said their work should not be discredited without proof.

The letter warned against creating the impression that voters had “wasted their vote” without evidence, arguing that such claims amounted to an attempt to undermine democracy and maintain political relevance.

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