'Unanimity doesn't mean rules were followed': Congress leader rejects ECI affidavit amid CEC row

Unanimity did not establish whether the decisions complied with the rules, the Congress said on Monday after the Election Commission of India (ECI) submitted an affidavit in Supreme Court, saying the three commissioners had unanimously approved its decisions on the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

“The Supreme Court should summon all the relevant records. Even if all three agreed, the core issue remains ‘Form 6’,” Congress leader Imran Masood said, questioning whether a decision could be considered lawful merely because all three Election Commissioners had agreed to it.

The remarks came even as the poll panel denied amending the statutory Form 6 used for enrolling new voters.

“The question is whether the decision was taken in accordance with the rules,” he said, adding “If all three act arbitrarily, does that mean the decision is no longer arbitrary?”

What ECI told Supreme Court

In its affidavit filed before the Supreme Court on Monday, the ECI informed the Supreme Court that all decisions relating to the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls were taken unanimously by its three members, rejecting allegations that chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar acted unilaterally or that the poll panel violated the law governing its decision-making process.

The poll panel also denied amending the statutory Form 6, arguing that the additional declaration required during the SIR was a separate document prescribed through its orders and not a modification of the form.

Opposition rejects ECI's affidavit

When asked whether the ECI’s affidavit was a setback for the Opposition, Masood said, “The question is about Form 6. The question is about the deletion of votes. How has the issue been resolved? The issue is not the Election Commissioner. The issue is vote theft.”

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, meanwhile, has called for a “Save the Vote – Save the Country” march and rally at Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan on November 1. “Our votes are being stolen, and we will not tolerate this quietly under any circumstances,” he said in a post on X, urging people to join the march.