SIR Begins in Panjab; Passport Not a Proof of Citizenship

June

2026

Panjab Chief Electoral Officer Anindita Mitra announced that the first phase of the house-to-house enumeration under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls began across Panjab on 26 Jun and will continue until 24 Jul. During this phase, Booth Level Officers will visit every household in the state. India has multiple official documents proving citizenship of a person which include ration card, Voter Identification Card, Aadhaar (Identity) Card, and the passport—considered the highest proof of identity because it is issued after intense verification and police clearance. However, in state after state where SIR has been conducted, some documents have been accepted and others declared invalid. For example, the Supreme Court of India ordered that the Aadhaar Card was valid during Bihar SIR but it was not valid as citizenship proof in West Bengal. Now, the Indian Ministry of External Affairs has announced that a passport is ‘just a travel document and not proof of identity’ but it was valid in the West Bengal SIR. Panjab has the highest passport density in India. Out of roughly 20M voters in Panjab, about 8M have a passport. The invalidation of the Aadhaar Card and passport in Panjab SIR begets the question on how India decides citizenship. There are other reasons why suddenly the union government has created this confusion and distraction. Firstly, the Karnataka Indian National Congress Home Minister Priyank Kharge has asked India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party’s parent organization the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) to prove its legitimacy. RSS claims to be a voluntary organization which is neither registered, nor does it pay taxes on its vast collection of funds. Though RSS’ presence is huge, it does not exist legally. Secondly, an embezzlement up to USD 150M has come to light in the Ram Temple Trust in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh. The Ram Temple has been the cornerstone of Hindutva right-wing politics for decades until 2024 when it was finally constructed. Police have initiated financial audits to determine the exact magnitude of the fraud and made arrests. A Special Investigation Team found blatant violations of Standard Operating Procedures, including missing or tampered CCTV footage, and unmonitored handling of donation boxes. The Trust has rejected the allegations but the General Secretary of the Trust Champat Rai has stepped down (earlier coverage).