New Delhi: Opposition parties stepped up their attack on the Election Commission of India on Wednesday, demanding Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar’s immediate removal and a Supreme Court-monitored probe.
The political storm followed media reports that two Election Commissioners had formally objected at least 14 times in 10 months to key decisions on the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
The reports alleged that Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi raised concerns over deletion and restoration of voters’ names, addition of new electors, appeals against electoral-roll decisions, and the management of the voter database. They also flagged issues relating to changes in statutory Form 6 (used for voter registration) and questioned aspects of the centralisation of electoral-roll data, as reported by The New Indian Express.
ECI’s Clarification
In a formal clarification, ECI officials said: “All decisions of the Election Commission of India, including SIR, have been unanimous and with the approval of both the Election Commissioners and the Chief Election Commissioner.” The statement came hours after the reports of repeated internal objections surfaced.
‘It’s Treason’: Rahul Gandhi Escalates Attack
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge cited the report to renew allegations that voter lists had been manipulated, but it was Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi who delivered the sharpest rebuke.
“Vote chori is a crime against the Indian people and a direct attack on our Constitution,” Gandhi said on X. “The BJP, RSS and EC who organised it have committed an act of treason. Justice will be served,” he added.
Other Congress leaders were also quick to seize on the report, with general secretary (communications) Jairam Ramesh sharing a screenshot on X and announcing that Abhishek Singhvi would address the media on what he described as “the CEC has destroyed the credibility and integrity of the Election Commission of India”.
Ramesh also highlighted a removal notice submitted by 73 Opposition MPs in the Rajya Sabha on April 24, 2026, which he said remained pending.
General secretary (organisation) K C Venugopal accused Kumar of acting on “His Master’s orders” to strike off names “at whim” and sideline fellow constitutional officers.
“How the hell can one man, acting on His Master’s orders, strike off names at whim? How can he sideline fellow Constitutional officers to only take blatantly illegal steps that put our democracy in danger?” he said. He called Kumar the “Chief Architect” of a nationwide “Vote Chori” exercise and demanded his immediate removal and a Supreme Court-monitored impartial investigation.
Pawan Khera, head of Congress’ media and publicity department, alleged Kumar was “planted” and “protected” by the BJP to weaken the ECI from within. “It was already known that things were not exactly well within the ECI. But just how messy, dysfunctional and, frankly, disturbing things had become is laid bare by this brilliant expose by @IndianExpress,” Khera said.
He called Kumar “the single most sold-out bureaucrat of the Modi era who has disenfranchised crores of Indians” and said he must face the law.
MP Manish Tewari said if the facts were correct, they suggested an “invisible hand” running the ECI. “If rules were not allegedly followed and decisions were taken that were not unanimous or by majority then all the decisions of @ECISVEEP are per -se arbitrary and capricious if not completely illegal,” Tewari said. “This is perhaps a fit case for serious considering an impeachment proceeding but more importantly the fundamental question is as to how will the credibility of @ECISVEEP be ever resurrected,” he added.
SP, TMC, AAP, CPI(M), PDP Join Fray
Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav said the reported differences raised questions over the impartiality of the poll panel and the governments formed during the period. “This is dangerous for our democracy. This is an attempt to weaken our democracy,” Yadav said. “This means that the governments which have been formed during this period are unconstitutional governments,” he alleged.
TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee demanded Kumar’s removal and a court-monitored probe.
“The CEC must be removed immediately and a court-monitored investigation ordered,” Banerjee said.
TMC’s Rajya Sabha leader Derek O’Brien called for reviving an earlier removal motion, saying: “Five months ago, 60+ Rajya Sabha MPs (50 needed) wrote to Chairman RS moving Motion to remove CEC Gyanesh Kumar. After big news break today that two Election Commissioners objected to many of CEC’s actions, it’s time to bring out the RS Motion today. Impeach CEC to save democracy,” O’Brien said.
Cancel SIR, Arrest Gyanesh Kumar: Kejriwal
AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal demanded cancellation of the SIR exercise and Kumar’s immediate arrest.
“For several months, meetings of the Election Commission have not been taking place, while Gyanesh Kumar has continued issuing orders on his own. Therefore, the entire SIR process, through which 13 crore names have been deleted across the country, is illegal because the Election Commission has not officially approved it,” he said. He also demanded a sedition case against Kumar.
‘One-Man Autocracy’
CPI(M) MP John Brittas described the ECI under Kumar as a “one-man autocracy”. “Two Election Commissioners have formally objected 14 times in 10 months. They branded the addition of new voters and mass deletion ‘unauthorised and illegal’. They recorded objections to secret deletions, restorations, and form 6 changes that harass young first-time voters – all while being kept in the dark,” he said. He urged Parliament to begin removal proceedings and the Supreme Court to annul the SIR process.
‘Banana Republic’
Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti warned India could resemble a “banana republic” if electoral-roll changes allegedly favouring the BJP continued.
“Our country, India, which is seen as the largest democracy in the world, and which our prime minister proudly speaks of it as the ‘Mother of Democracy’ whenever he is abroad, (but) today, they are trying to subvert the very fundamentals of Indian democracy, which is the electoral process, by fudging the electoral rolls — something these two Election Commissioners have pointed out,” she said.
Gyanesh Kumar Must Go: Sanjay Raut
Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut said: “A-Gyanesh Kumar will go to jail! He will have to go! His masters will flee the country and run away!”
Former chief election commissioner O P Rawat called changes to statutory Form 6 “absolutely wrong and illegal” and described the reported differences as “very serious” and “unfortunate”.
With the ECI insisting on unanimity and the Opposition citing recorded objections, the standoff now shifts to Parliament and the courts, where removal notices and pleas for judicial scrutiny are expected to gain momentum.
