The Election Commission of India is facing one of the most serious institutional controversies in its history following a bombshell investigation by The Indian Express that revealed repeated objections by two of the three Election Commissioners over key decisions concerning the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
The revelations have intensified and reinforced the Opposition’s long-running allegations of ‘vote chori’ and placed Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar at the centre of an escalating political storm. They have also brought Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and RSS chief Mohan Bhagwatdirectly into the Opposition’s line of attack.
The newspaper revealed that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi recorded formal objections at least 14 times over 10 months on issues involving voter registration, deletion and restoration, the SIR process and control of electoral-roll databases. Some objections reportedly concerned decisions taken without their knowledge.
The Election Commission has rejected the suggestion of a breakdown within the institution. Its official response said that differing views and observations were a normal part of deliberation and maintained that decisions taken by the Commission over the preceding year, including those relating to SIR, were unanimous. Interestingly, it didn’t deny any of the points raised in the Indian Express story. That contradiction now lies at the heart of the crisis.
The question confronting the country is not simply whether electoral rolls are being revised. It is whether the process is transparent, legally compliant and sufficiently insulated from political influence, and whether the constitutional institution entrusted with conducting elections can convincingly demonstrate that it is acting independently.
For the Opposition, the answer is increasingly clear: it alleges that the electoral system has been systematically weakened and that the ECI under Gyanesh Kumar has become a ‘tool’ to the ruling establishment. The government and the BJP reject these allegations.What cannot be dismissed, however, is the fact that two members of the three-member Commission repeatedly raised objections on record.
One of the most serious issues involved the modification of Form 6, the application used by citizens to register as new voters.The investigation reported that a question was inserted, asking whether an applicant, or their parents or grandparents, appeared on the electoral roll of the previous SIR. Joshi had reportedly objected that the form could not be changed in this manner without a corresponding amendment to the rules. Sandhu subsequently described the change as ‘unauthorised and illegal’ and called for its removal.
The second major issue concerned access to electoral-roll data.The ECI has traditionally defended the preparation of electoral rolls as a decentralised process, with statutory Electoral Registration Officers exercising authority over constituency-level rolls.
But according to the investigation, Joshi warned of the ‘gradual centralisation’ of the electoral-roll database and proposed an audit to ensure that only legally authorised officials had credentials to alter voter records. Sandhu subsequently raised similar concerns over the access available to state-level election officials. If confirmed in full, these concerns go to the heart of the electoral system – for the first time in the history of independent India.
The crucial question is simple: Who ultimately controls the voter list? Is it the statutory officer responsible for a constituency, or a centralised technological system controlled from elsewhere?That question becomes particularly important when an individual’s eligibility to vote can depend upon a database entry.
The Goa episode provides perhaps the clearest illustration of why the technology issue matters. The 97 voters who had been deleted from the draft electoral roll successfully established their eligibility before local election authorities. But the software system did not provide a mechanism for Electoral Registration Officers to record the restoration of those voters in the final roll. This is particularly significant because the SIR exercise has affected millions of names.
13 Crore Names and the Politics of Deletion
The SIR was launched in Bihar in June 2025 after Rahul Gandhiexposed Haryana and Maharashtra elections were allegedly manipulated.Itwas subsequently expanded to other parts of the country. More than 13 crore names have been struck off from draft electoral rolls across 30 States and Union Territories during the process. But the scale of the exercise has inevitably raised questions about safeguards against wrongful exclusion.
A voter list is not merely an administrative document. It determines who can participate in an election.The Opposition, however, charged that the SIR process was introduced to disenfranchise large sections of citizens who don’t support the BJP.
Rahul Gandhi Turns the Heat on Modi, Shah and RSS
The internal ECI controversy has provided Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi with fresh ammunition for his long-running ‘vote chori’ campaign.Addressing a press conference on Sep. 24, he said, “Elections in India are being rigged,” and alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and CEC Gyanesh Kumar acted as ‘deshdrohis (traitors)’ by destroying the country’s votes. He escalated his attack on the ECI and the Modi government over ‘vote chori (theft of votes)’ allegations.Demanding Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation, he called upon him to ‘turn approver’. He argued that the functioning of the electoral system required a much deeper investigation.
Gandhi also displayed video clips of Modi and Shah speaking about the BJP remaining in power for a long period and used this as part of his argument that the disappearance of conventional anti-incumbency required an explanation.He described India’s electoral system as ‘fundamentally broken’ and said the controversy was not a minor dispute about voter lists but an attack on the constitutional system.
“If tomorrow the BJP sweeps the national election, India will not believe it. So now we are heading to the point where public expression will not allow the BJP to get the type of majority they were getting,” Gandhi said.“We are not going to let democracy be destroyed in India,” he said. “Everyone will be held accountable.”
“We are sitting in a place where we have never been sitting since 1947: our elections are fundamentally broken, our vote has been destroyed,” said Gandhi. He included National Security Advisor Ajit Doval in this alleged conspiracy and referred to some as ‘pawns’ in the larger plot.
“This is not some small electoral problem. This is an attack on the Constitution of India,” he said.“Nobody in their right mind in India does not suspect that the [electoral and institutional] system in India has been damaged,” Gandhi said. “We have enough information to prove this with certainty.”
Declaring that ‘vote chori’ is a crime against the Indian people and a direct attack on the Constitution, Gandhi said, “The BJP, RSS, and EC who organised it have committed an act of treason. Justice will be served.”
Gandhi has therefore sought to connect the present controversy with earlier allegations concerning voter rolls inMadhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Haryana.
Several other Congress leaders also held press conferences to demand Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation.Congress MP and spokesperson Dr Abhishek Manu Singhvi also said Gyanesh Kumar had ‘no right to continue even for a second’ and demanded his immediate resignation. He accused the BJP of having ‘opened an office of murder of democracy’ and running a ‘double-bulldozer government’.Singhvi cited a Supreme Court ruling to argue that the Chief Election Commissioner is not the supreme authority within the poll panel but ‘first among equals’.
Another Congress spokesperson, Pawan Khera, launched a sharp attack on Kumar, alleging that he was ‘a termite being fed and protected by the BJP’ to hollow out the Election Commission of India from within.
Congress general secretary K.C. Venugopal pointed out that Rahul Gandhi had, ‘since day one’, been exposing what the party describes as a massive ‘Vote Chori’ exercise allegedly being spearheaded by the BJP and Gyanesh Kumar.
The Modi-Shah Question
With every BJP electoral victory, Opposition parties have intensified their criticism of the poll body, alleging serious infirmities in the electoral process – from ‘faulty’ electoral rolls and the alleged intimidation surrounding the SIR to what they describe as selective enforcement of the Model Code of Conduct.The Opposition’s most politically consequential allegation is that the ECI’s actions cannot be separated from the Modi-Shah leadership of the BJP.
Congress leaders have repeatedly alleged that Gyanesh Kumar enjoys political protection from the government and that the Prime Minister and Home Minister bear ultimate political responsibility for the functioning of institutions under the Union government. They underlined thegovernmentprovided permanent legal immunity to the Election Commissioners by amendment in the Section 16 of the Act. It was an unprecedented decision as President of India and State Governors get immunity only during the tenure of the office.
The 2023 law governing appointments to the ECI has already generated debate precisely because the executive has a prominent role in selecting Election Commissioners.The Opposition’s criticism of Gyanesh Kumar cannot be separated from the controversy surrounding the mechanism through which Election Commissioners are appointed.
The Supreme Court, in its March 2023 judgment in Anoop Baranwal v. Union of India, had directed thatappointments be recommended by a committee consisting of the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition and the Chief Justice of India until Parliament enacted a law on the matter.
Opposition Closes Ranks
The controversy has rapidly brought together several Opposition parties demanding action against Kumar.The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Mamata Banerjee’s TMC and the Samajwadi Party were among those that addressed press conferences on the issue.
SP leader Akhilesh Yadav asked the Supreme Court to take suo motu cognizance of the matter.TMC’s Abhishek Banerjee said the CEC must be removed immediately and a court-monitored investigation should be ordered.“When grave questions affecting the democratic process are repeatedly raised and yet remain unheard, it inevitably raises questions about institutional impartiality. The Supreme Court cannot look away. The buck stops there. Will the CJI-led Bench act?” Banerjee said.
Another leader Mahua Moitra also said, “Gyanesh Kumar is not going to get away. Modi-Shah are not going to get away. Elections are being stolen. Crores are being disenfranchised by one rogue CEC aided by government. This country will not accept this anymore.”
DMK chief M.K. Stalin demanded that ‘a fair and thorough investigation’ be carried out into ‘everything that has transpired within the Election Commission’, and ‘that those responsible should be held accountable’.
Similarly, five Left parties have also demanded the removal of Gyanesh Kumar, a halt to the SIR exercise and restoration of voting rights to those they said were wrongly excluded. They also called for changes to the appointment mechanism for Election Commissioners, saying it must include the Chief Justice of India.
Nationwide Stir
Pressing for Kumar’s removal, Congress held protest demonstrations in several State capitals on Sep. 25, with police using force or detaining protesters at some locations.The Opposition is also preparing a parliamentary motion seeking Kumar’s removal. The campaign is therefore moving simultaneously on three fronts – Parliament, the courts and the streets.
The revelations have sparked public anger and pressure from the Opposition, but Prime Minister Narendra Modi is yet to say anything. Now his NDA allies have also sought clarification from the Election Commission.Union Minister Chirag Paswan has said it would be problematic if people began doubting the electoral process and called for the questions surrounding the Commission to be addressed publicly.Other BJP allies, including the TDP and Upendra Kushwaha’s Rashtriya Lok Morcha (RLM), have also sought clarification from the Election Commission.
The ruling BJP, as expected, has mounted an aggressive defence of the Commission, while calls for Kumar to be awarded the Padma Bhushan have also surfaced. The episode has raised questions about the perceived closeness between the ruling party and the poll panel, adding another layer to the growing controversy surrounding the ECI’s independence.
The CJP Enters the Battlefield
The controversy has also attracted smaller political organisations. The Cockroach Janta Party demanded Kumar’s resignation within 48 hours and announced a nationwide campaign if he did not step down.
“CEC is the biggest anti-national. Gyanesh Kumar is the biggest anti-national of this country. He should resign immediately because he is the biggest threat to India’s democracy. What did democracy mean in our country? Democracy meant that the people would elect the government. Since Gyanesh Kumar became the CEC, the government has been deciding who will be allowed to vote and who will not. Is this democracy? What kind of definition of democracy is this? You have turned the entire concept of democracy upside down,” Abhijeet Dipke said in a press conference in New Delhi.
Jantar Mantar Sealed
Meanwhile, the Delhi Police, which reports to Union Home Minister Amit Shah, detained and allegedly manhandled several protesters at Jantar Mantar, including reporter Irfan , AISA president Neha Bora, CPI-ML general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya, transparency activist Anjali Bhardwaj and activist Yogendra Yadav. They were taken to different police stations and released later in the evening. Protesters also alleged that some police personnel were not wearing name tags. The deployment of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police at the protest site further drew criticism. The police have since sealed Jantar Mantar to prevent further demonstrations against the CEC and the government.
From Voter Rolls to Ballot Papers
The demand to revert to paper ballots is also gaining momentum across sections of society, with lawyers taking to the streets to press for the change.On Sep. 17, a group of Supreme Court lawyers led by advocate Mehmood Pracha staged a protest march demanding the removal of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and a return to paper-ballot voting. They sought to march towards the ECI office, but police barricaded roads leading to NirvachanSadan from the Supreme Court, preventing the protesters from reaching the poll panel’s headquarters.
Facing backlash from the Opposition and NDA allies over irregularities in the functioning of the poll body, the Election Commission issued second statement on Sep. 26. However,the Opposition wasn’t impressed with the latest clarification. Making it clear that‘nothing short of the CEC’s resignation or prosecution will suffice’ though he may think he can ‘hide behind ‘bureaucratise’ and protocol.