Opposition Demands CEC Gyanesh Kumar's Removal After Report of Rift Inside Election Commission

A fresh controversy has erupted over the functioning of the Election Commission of India, after a media investigation alleged internal dissent among commissioners during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls, prompting opposition parties to renew calls for Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar's removal.

What the report alleges

According to the investigation, Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi are said to have raised objections on at least 14 occasions over roughly ten months regarding decisions and orders connected to the SIR exercise. The disputed matters reportedly span voter registration, the deletion and restoration of names from electoral rolls, changes to Form 6, and broader management of the roll-revision process. The core allegation is that some of these decisions were taken without adequately involving the two commissioners, raising questions about how consensus is reached within the three-member body.

The Commission's response

Election Commission sources pushed back firmly on the characterisation, stating that every decision taken by the panel was unanimous and carried the approval of both commissioners as well as the CEC. Officials described it as part of routine procedure for a commissioner to ask questions or record an opinion during internal discussions, arguing that disagreement or debate ahead of a decision is not the same as being excluded from it.

Opposition reaction

The report landed amid already heightened scrutiny of the Election Commission over its handling of the Special Intensive Revision, which has drawn criticism from opposition parties in several states. CPI-M MP John Brittas described the Commission's functioning under CEC Gyanesh Kumar as a "one-man autocracy." Congress MP Manish Tewari argued that if internal rules were not followed and decisions lacked genuine unanimity or majority backing, then the Commission's rulings could be seen as arbitrary. Trinamool Congress MP Derek O'Brien said a notice of motion signed by more than 60 opposition members of the Rajya Sabha has been submitted, seeking the Chief Election Commissioner's removal.

Why this matters

The Election Commission's credibility and independence sit at the heart of India's electoral process, and disputes over how its decisions are made carry weight well beyond this single episode. The SIR exercise itself has already been a flashpoint this year, with the Supreme Court separately questioning the Commission over notices issued to lakhs of voters flagged for discrepancies in the draft rolls. A demand for the CEC's removal is a significant escalation, even if, procedurally, such removals require a high constitutional threshold similar to that for a Supreme Court judge.

For now, the standoff is playing out through public statements rather than any formal proceeding, and the Commission has not indicated any change in its position. But with SIR Phase-III already extending to sixteen states and three union territories, the controversy is likely to keep electoral roll integrity and Commission transparency in the political spotlight in the weeks ahead, especially as opposition parties look to make it a rallying point ahead of state elections.

This is an original summary based on public reporting. See our editorial policy for how we source, write, and correct our stories.