Gen Z Voter Enrolment Row : Congress Accuses Modi, CEC Gyanesh Kumar

September 25, 2026

New Delhi : A fresh controversy has erupted after a report flagged simmering discontent within the Election Commission (ECI) over the annual revision of electoral rolls to include 18-year-olds (Gen Z), which has been held up since 2024, with the Congress alleging the Prime Minister was scared of the youth. This year too, no announcement has been made for SSR for the 2026-27 cycle. The exercise is generally declared around the end of May.

The fresh revelation comes on the back of an Indian Express investigation that found the two Election Commissioners objected 14 times to various decisions taken by the poll panel in the past 10 months. Unlike SIR, which is a more exhaustive process, SSR is a routine and annual process to update voter lists and add newly eligible voters. SSR is a key mechanism for adding those who have turned 18 to the electoral rolls. The exercise allows those turning 18 in a particular year to apply on four dates – January 1, April 1, July 1 and October 1.

A look at the ECI website shows the last SSR exercise took place in 2024. In 2025, the SIR exercise was rolled out in Bihar. It was subsequently extended to other states. This had led to a break in the decades-long convention of yearly SSR across states – a mandate under Section 21 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950. This despite Sandhu and Joshi strongly advocating for the SSR exercise and urging the need to resume it.

The report has given ammo to the Opposition to link the findings to its wider “vote chori” campaign against the Modi government and CEC Gyanesh Kumar. By the 2029 Lok Sabha polls, Gen Z is projected to represent one of India’s largest voting groups – an electoral force that no political party can afford to overlook. Reacting to the ET report, the Congress accused the BJP government and the CEC of conspiring to keep Gen Z voters off electoral rolls.

The party cited Uttar Pradesh and Goa, which will go to polls next year, as examples to sharpen its charge. With the annual revision still not announced, the Congress alleged that it could prevent newly eligible voters from being added to the rolls in UP and Goa. “Uttar Pradesh and Goa are due to go to polls next year, but no SSR has been conducted there. As a result, new 18-year-old voters have been unable to get added to the electoral rolls,” the party tweeted.