Differences in the Election Commission with two election commissioners repeatedly dissenting over the SIR of voter list spilled into the open on Wednesday, triggering opposition demands for Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar's removal and arrest
NEW DELHI — Differences in the Election Commission with two election commissioners repeatedly dissenting over the SIR of voter list spilled into the open on Wednesday, triggering opposition demands for Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar's removal and arrest, even as the poll panel defended differing views as a normal part of deliberation.
The Congress dubbed the row "Gyaneshgate", while the Trinamool Congress led by Mamata Banerjee demanded CEC Kumar's impeachment and fresh assembly elections in West Bengal using the voter list that existed before the Special Intensive Revision (SIR). The ruling BJP downplayed the differences within the poll panel, calling it "a reflection of pure democracy".
The row followed an Indian Express report that said Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had objected on record at least 14 times over the past 10 months to decisions and orders they said were issued without their knowledge, even as the national rollout of the SIR was under the supervision of the full commission.
Their objections covered the manner in which the statutory voter registration Form 6 was amended, the handling of additions and deletions from voter lists, and centralised control over the electoral roll database, according to the report.
The Election Commission asserted that all its official orders, decisions and administrative directions carry full legal sanctions and that differing views and observations are a normal part of deliberation in any institution.
It said suggestions from the commissioners were aimed at improving electoral processes and maintained that the final decisions of the full commission, including those relating to the SIR, were unanimous. Neither Sandhu nor Joshi has publicly spoken about the objections attributed to them.
In a post on X, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi alleged that the BJP, the RSS and the Election Commission had committed an act of treason by organising "vote chori".
"Vote chori is a crime against the Indian people and a direct attack on our Constitution," Gandhi said.
"The BJP, RSS and EC who organised it have committed an act of treason. Justice will be served," he said. He also shared a video of earlier remarks in which he had warned EC officials that they would not be spared.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge asked whether the Rajya Sabha chairman would now decide on a notice submitted by 73 Opposition MPs on April 24 seeking Kumar's removal. The Monsoon Session had not yet been prorogued, he pointed out.
Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said that if Kumar was aware of elections being rigged and allowed it to happen, it was "an act of treason".
Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh alleged that Kumar had functioned as a "hatchet man" for Union Home Minister Amit Shah and that his actions had the knowledge and support of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
"It has now been proven that the BJP and the EC looted the West Bengal assembly polls," former West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee alleged in a Facebook live. "Re-election must be held in West Bengal with the old voter list," she added.
Banerjee said INDIA bloc partners had discussed the matter and would meet soon. She also called for nationwide protests as long as Kumar remained CEC.
Former Delhi chief minister and AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal also demanded the CEC's arrest.
DMK president M K Stalin said Kumar "must go" and had no right to continue in office. He alleged that the SIR was riddled with irregularities and had sparked widespread unrest, particularly in West Bengal.
Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray demanded that Kumar be sacked and jailed for "murdering" democracy. He thanked Sandhu and Joshi for what he described as their courage in exposing the CEC.
Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav said governments formed when the EC was not functioning impartially were "unconstitutional". The developments raised questions over "on whose behalf" the poll panel was functioning, he said.
CPI(M) MP John Brittas called the Election Commission under Kumar a "one-man autocracy" and urged Parliament to begin the process of removing him. The CPI(M) also demanded an immediate halt to the SIR.
TMC Rajya Sabha leader Derek O'Brien called for the pending removal notice to be taken up, while party MP Mahua Moitra described Kumar as the "original anti-national" in a post on X.
Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal said Kumar should be suspended immediately. Demanding an FIR to investigate who was behind the CEC's actions, he said work on finalising voter lists should stop and the Supreme Court should consider ordering fresh elections.
Senior Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi said Kumar had no right to remain in office and must resign. Activists of the Indian Youth Congress also held a protest in Delhi demanding the CEC's resignation.
Addressing a press conference at the BJP headquarters, party spokesperson Sambit Patra said media reports about commissioners expressing differing views in official deliberations reflected "pure democracy". If they did not communicate and exchange views, Opposition parties would accuse them of being "yes men" of the government, he said.
The reported objections also drew sharp comments from former chief election commissioners O P Rawat and S Y Quraishi, who questioned the legality of the route adopted to change Form 6.
According to the newspaper report, Sandhu and Joshi observed in separate file notings that Form 6 could not be changed through instructions issued for the SIR and that the legally sustainable course was to amend the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960.
A declaration linking new voter applications to the SIR was subsequently introduced in the online form, and Sandhu recorded in a file noting in August that the change was "unauthorised and illegal" and should be removed immediately, the newspaper said.
Rawat, who served as CEC in 2018, said the situation was unusual. "I have also been there, but I saw that decisions were always taken unanimously," he told PTI Videos.
On the manner in which Form 6 was changed, he said, "It is absolutely wrong and illegal." He described the SIR as a "Frankenstein which has created fear in the minds of voters everywhere".
Quraishi, who served as CEC from 2010 to 2012, said the two serving election commissioners were right to argue that an addition to Form 6 required an amendment to the rules.
"If the entire exercise of revising the electoral rolls has been illegal, then you cannot hold an election on the basis of an illegal electoral roll," he said.
He said it was legally possible to revert to the rolls that existed before the SIR if mistakes had been made. "If they can go back to 2002, why not go back to 2025?" he asked.
Rawat also criticised the reported centralisation of control over the electoral roll database, saying software could not be allowed to prevent field officials from acting on decisions they had reached after examining a voter's case. He asked why the two commissioners had not raised their concerns publicly earlier.
Under Section 18 of the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners Act, 2023, the commission's business is to be transacted unanimously as far as possible. Where members differ, the matter is decided according to the majority opinion.