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Press Club of India raises concern over passport issues faced by two senior journalists The Press Club says deletion of former Editor of The Telegraph R. Rajagopal’s name from the electoral roll in West Bengal reportedly led to non-renewal of his passport for over 100 days allegedly following an ‘adverse’ police report

Veteran journalist Rajagopal says his passport wasn't ... - Onmanorama Onmanorama Staff Published: June 29, 2026 01:17 PM IST 3 minuteRead Former editor R Rajagopal alleges his passport renewal has been stalled due to his name being deleted from West Bengal's electoral rolls during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR). The Editors Guild of India has condemned the denial of electoral and passport rights, highlighting the potential plight of ordinary citizens facing similar issues with voter roll revisions. The Special Intensive Revision process in West Bengal is under legal and political scrutiny, with allegations of disenfranchisement and ongoing litigation, including Supreme Court-mandated appellate tribunals. Link Copied R Rajagopal, former editor of The Telegraph, has alleged that his passport renewal has been stalled after his name was deleted from West Bengal’s electoral rolls during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR). Speaking to the media, Rajagopal said he was officially informed on March 27 that his name had been excluded from the electoral roll. He said he had applied for passport renewal on February 27, and the biometric verification was completed smoothly on …

Editors Guild condemns denial of passport, voting right to former 'The ... Representative image | The Indian Nomad from Pixabay The Editors Guild of India on Sunday condemned the manner in which R Rajagopal, a former editor of The Telegraph , was “being treated by the bureaucracy that gets to decide who is an Indian citizen and who is not”. On Saturday, Rajagopal said that he had been removed as a voter in West Bengal during the special intensive revision of electoral rolls in March, apparently because his and his father’s names could not be traced in the 2002 voters’ list. Rajagopal said that his name had been excluded by the Election Commission citing “logical discrepancies”, which refers to situations such as a mismatch in parents’ names, low age gap with parents and the number of children of the parents being more than six. Statement on the Denial of Electoral and Passport Rights to R. Rajagopal pic.twitter.com/xa4kJij9Tw — Editors Guild of India (@IndEditorsGuild) June 28, 2026 He said that he had been facing problems while renewing his passport. While his biometric formalities had been completed on March 19, his application was not cleared at the police veri…

SIR-linked passport denial creates a disqualification Parliament never enacted: CPI(M) leader John Brittas The MP says exclusion from voters’ list in the SIR exercise cannot become grounds for refusing passport renewal. He urges External Affairs Minister to intervene in the case of journalist Rajagopal Ramadas, who was denied renewal as his name was deleted from the electoral rolls

Satheesan writes to Bengal CM over Rajagopal passport issue, Kerala LoP ... Satheesan writes to Bengal CM over Rajagopal passport issue, Kerala LoP alleges rights violation By: IANS On: Monday, June 29, 2026 1:52 PM Google News Follow Us Thiruvananthapuram, June 29 (IANS) Kerala Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan on Monday wrote to West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, seeking his urgent intervention in the reported denial of passport renewal to veteran journalist and editor R. Rajagopal, even as Leader of the Opposition Pinarayi Vijayan flagged concerns over citizens’ rights. In a statement on X, Satheesan said he had requested Adhikari to personally intervene after reports that Rajagopal’s passport renewal had been held up following an adverse police verification report from the Kolkata Police. “I have written to the Chief Minister of West Bengal requesting his urgent intervention in the reported denial of passport renewal to renowned journalist R. Rajagopal. According to reports, his passport renewal has been held up following an adverse police verification report from the Kolkata Police. I sincerely hope the matter is examined fairly and resolved,” Satheesan said. “I would l…

Opposition cites former editor's passport, voter roll ordeal to target ... Home India Opposition cites former editor's passport, voter roll ordeal to target Centre India Opposition cites former editor’s passport, voter roll ordeal to target Centre PTI 28 June, 2026 11:46 am IST Facebook Twitter WhatsApp Linkedin Follow Us : Text Size: A- A+ New Delhi, Jun 28 (PTI) The Congress, Trinamool Congress and CPI(M) attacked the Centre after former The Telegraph editor R Rajagopal said his passport renewal had been stalled following the deletion of his name from West Bengal’s electoral rolls during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR). Opposition leaders said that the plight of Rajagopal reflected a wider erosion of citizens’ rights. Rajagopal, in a detailed note, said he found himself in a “state of civic uncertainty”, spending much of his time reconstructing decades-old family records after an adverse police report linked to his omission from the electoral rolls held up his passport renewal. Show Full Article “Like nearly 27 lakh other residents of West Bengal, I was excluded on account of what were described as ‘logical discrepancies’. No reason was furnished even after I submitted my m…

'Slow erosion of citizenship rights': Opposition cites former editor's ... The level of irrationality we have reached as a nation. Are we determined to remove the tag of a nation governed by Rule of Law so assiduously curated by our founding fathers ! What a pity !! Shocking, heart rending account . If this can happen to R. Rajagopal, former Editor of@ttindia, imagine what citizens with far fewer resources are enduring. Deleted from the electoral roll. Denied the right to vote. Passport renewal stalled for 100 days because of an adverse…https://t.co/57gjzMo7mu The ugly fangs of the SIR are coming to the fore yet again. It is not just preventing lakhs of people from exercising their constitutional right to vote, but is also emerging as a tool to determine citizenship in furtherance of the BJP's divisive Hindutva agenda.Right from the…pic.twitter.com/YejVdziGko

Opposition cites former Telegraph editor's passport, voter roll ordeal ... The Congress, Trinamool Congress and CPI(M) attacked the Centre after former The Telegraph editor R Rajagopal said his passport renewal had been stalled following the deletion of his name from West Bengal's electoral rolls during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR). Opposition leaders said that the plight of Rajagopal reflected a wider erosion of citizens' rights. Rajagopal, in a detailed note, said he found himself in a "state of civic uncertainty", spending much of his time reconstructing decades-old family records after an adverse police report linked to his omission from the electoral rolls held up his passport renewal. "Like nearly 27 lakh other residents of West Bengal, I was excluded on account of what were described as 'logical discrepancies'. No reason was furnished even after I submitted my matriculation certificate, and my appeal is now pending before one of the tribunals constituted pursuant to the Supreme Court's directions," Rajagopal wrote. "More distressing has been the fate of my passport renewal application. Although I completed the biometric formalities on March 19, 2026, police veri…

EGI Condemns Deletion of Veteran Journalist R. Rajagopal's ... - The Wire Since 2015, The Wire has done just that.But we can continue only withyour support. New Delhi:The Editors Guild of India (EGI) has condemned the deletion of the name of R. Rajagopal, former editor of The Telegraph from the electoral rolls and the subsequent non-renewal of his passport by authorities. In astatementissued on Sunday (June 28), the EGI demanded that Rajagopal’s identity as a voter be restored at the earliest. “The Editors Guild of India condemns the manner in which Mr R. Rajagopal, a former Editor of The Telegraph, a leading Kolkata-based daily, is being treated by the bureaucracy that gets to decide who is an Indian citizen and who is not,” said the EGI statement issued by its president Sanjay Kapoor, general secretary Raghavan Srinivasanand treasurer Teresa Rehman. “Mr Rajagopal, despite decades of work in the public domain as a journalist and editor, today 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 since more than 100 days, allegedly due to an ‘adverse report’ from the Kolkata Police, who…

'Irrational', 'alarming': Opposition on former editor's passport row The Opposition has hit out at the Centre after The Telegraph’s former editor, R Rajagopal, alleged that his passport had not been renewed following the deletion of his name from the electoral rolls in West Bengal during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the voter list. In a statement on Sunday, the Editors Guild of India condemned the bureaucracy’s “treatment” of Rajagopal, who said in a note on social media that he missed his daughter’s wedding in the United States because he did not possess an active passport. On Sunday, Rajagopal toldThe Indian Expressthat he received a call from the police in the first week of April. “I think, in the first week of April, a police official called me from the Ballygunge police station and summoned me for police verification. He told me to carry my documents. When I asked which document, he told me, ‘Voter ID card.’ Then I told him, ‘But my name has been deleted from the electoral roll on March 27,'” Rajagopal said. Efforts to renew his passport since then have been unsuccessful, and he has received an appointment to appear before the Regional Passport Office (RPO) on J…

Indian journalists condemn 'denial' of voting and passport rights of prominent editor Rajagopal has alleged that he has been unable to renew his passport after his name was deleted from the electoral rolls.