Political clash over Election Commission intensifies amidst calls for CEC Gyanesh Kumar's resignation
The political fracas around the Election Commission of India (ECI) and the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise intensified on Sunday, with chief ministers of states governed by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) defending the poll body and the Congress and other opposition parties doubling down on criticism of the exercise and demands for resignation of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar.
The exchange came a day after the ECI announced changes to the SIR procedure, eased hearing requirements and extended by about a month the deadlines for submission of documents in Delhi and Maharashtra, amid criticism of the exercise from opposition parties and civil society groups.
The Opposition’s charge was led by the Congress, which insisted that CEC Gyanesh Kumar resign, days ahead of a meeting of its top decision-making body to discuss issues related to the roll revision exercise, with the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) also criticising the central polling body.
Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath accused the Congress, Samajwadi Party (SP) and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) of “consistently attempting to damage constitutional institutions”.
“They have spread misconceptions regarding SIR. This is not the first time. SIRs were carried out in 1952, 1957, 1961, 1965-66 and 2003, mostly under Congress governments. The uproar by the Congress, SP and the RJD over the current exercise is extremely unfortunate,” Adityanath said during an interaction with the press at his residence.
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His counterpart from Maharashtra, Devendra Fadnavis, accused Lok Sabha leader of opposition Rahul Gandhi of “creating anarchy”.
“By creating this situation of anarchy, he wants to make people feel that the democratic system that the Constitution established cannot give them justice,” he said.
Fadnavis also dismissed the Opposition’s claims that votes were “stolen”.
“I want to say in very clear words that no votes were stolen. Rahul Gandhi’s mind was stolen. As for that stolen mind, I would request the Prime Minister to form a committee that brings his mind back so that he speaks in the country’s interest,” he said.
Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra reiterated her demand that Kumar resign, accusing him of partisanship.
“Not only do they have party leanings, but they are actively propagating those parties. How can they conduct fair elections? This is just one in a series of things that this gentleman (the CEC) has done, which are completely illegal and unconstitutional. He needs to resign, and he needs to resign now,” she said.
Priyanka was responding to a question on an allegation that Kumar had urged former Kerala chief secretary Jiji Thomson to contest the 2019 Lok Sabha election on a BJP ticket.
The developments came days after an investigation by The Indian Express said election commissioners SS Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had recorded written dissents and objections at least 14 times between November 2025 and August 2026 and even written to the cabinet secretary.
It also alleged that election officials found their access to the ECI software curtailed by the central IT team. ECI has said differing views and observations were a normal part of deliberation and that all its digital platforms operated under strict data security protocols to prevent unauthorised tampering or manipulation.
The agency on Saturday, in a meeting of Kumar, Sandhu and Joshi, the first since controversy broke out over the poll body’s conduct, also ordered a review of its ECINET portal and defended an addition to Form 6 — used by new electors to enrol themselves — by claiming that the Supreme Court upheld it.
In the ongoing SIR in Delhi and Maharashtra, ECI extended every deadline by roughly a month.
But the political back-and-forth continued unfettered.
West Bengal chief minister Suvendu Adhikari said his predecessor Mamata Banerjee was responsible for the names of 2.7 million people being deleted from the state’s voter rolls during the SIR.
“Those who are unable to mentally accept the BJP’s victory in Bengal are trying to spread confusion by clinging to a fabricated report. This picture itself proves that every decision relating to the SIR was taken jointly and unanimously. There is no question of anyone imposing a decision unilaterally,” Adhikari said.
“The responsibility for the deletion of 27 lakh [2.7 million] names lies with Mamata Banerjee, not the BJP or the EC. Judicial officers took the decision following the Supreme Court’s directions in a case filed by her,” he added.
In Bihar, chief minister Samrat Choudhary said the revision process in the state “was completed following prescribed rules and in a transparent manner, ensuring that no eligible person’s name was removed from the electoral rolls while full provisions for claims and objections remained available”.
“Opposition leaders have no facts; they are only making allegations,” he said.
Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma attacked Rahul Gandhi and said his party was fabricating accusations after losing a string of elections.
“In 2014, you (Congress) lost the election when the Manmohan Singh-appointed Election Commission was there... Rahul Gandhi should introspect on why people are rejecting the Congress party again and again. There is no introspection. They will not go to a state where they lost. They will not analyse the reason why they have lost. Whenever you lose an election, you start blaming EVMs,” Sarma told news agency ANI.
Uttarakhand chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami also accused the Congress of concocting falsehoods, even as he defended the under-fire polling agency.
“It would be inappropriate to portray any internal deliberations or comments as a ‘difference of opinion’ regarding the Commission’s final decision,” Dhami said. He further pointed out that the Supreme Court, in a verdict on May 27, 2026, had upheld the statutory validity of the SIR process.
The Opposition, meanwhile, continued to press for Kumar’s removal. The Congress is preparing to bring an impeachment notice against the CEC, while the CPI(M) and NCP (SP) have also criticised the commission.
The CPI(M) rejected the ECI’s September 26 statement and also called on Kumar to step down.
In a statement, the CPI(M) Politburo, the party’s top decision-making body, said the concerns raised by opposition parties and civil society organisations over the SIR process have been reinforced by disclosure of objections within the commission itself.
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“The Election Commission of India’s (ECI) statement issued on September 26 does not address the serious questions raised by disclosures about the Commission’s functioning and the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls,” the Politburo said.
NCP (SP) MLA Rohit Pawar attacked the Commission and alleged that it was working as a representative of the central government rather than the citizens of India.
“The Election Commission is a constitutional body. Its head is not a representative of the government; rather, they represent the people of India. Past election commissioners genuinely represented the people and the Constitution of India. However, in the current situation, Gyanesh Kumar does not represent the people; if he represents anyone, it is the Government of India,” Pawar said.
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