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COVER STORY OCTOBER 02, 2026 | The Indian Eye 4

ELECTION COMMISSION OF INDIA

OPPOSITION FIRES

AT POLL BODY

The controversy around the Election Commission has moved beyond a political confrontation

over SIR and into questions about institutional procedure, internal checks, technology and the
protection of the voter’s right to be on the electoral roll.

OUR BUREAU
New Delhi
he Election Commission of In-
dia is facing an unusually intense
Tchallenge to its functioning, with
allegations of unilateral decision-mak-
ing, internal disagreement among its
three members and questions over
the way electoral-roll data is being
managed through its digital systems.
At the centre of the controversy
is Chief Election Commissioner Gya-
nesh Kumar and the Special Intensive
Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. But
the larger issue is no longer simply
whether the revision exercise is jus-
tified or how many names have been
removed from voter lists. The more
consequential question is whether
the institutional safeguards within the
Election Commission are functioning
as intended.
A plea filed in the Supreme
Court on September 25 has sought Lok Sabha LoP and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi addresses a press conference at Indira Bhawan, in New Delhi on Thursday. (ANI Photo/ Naveen Sharma)
prosecution of Kumar and other of-
ficials over alleged changes to Form deleting names, restoring names and ment during the drafting of a decision is heightened by the legal framework
6, centralisation of electoral-roll data controlling the digital infrastructure and a formal disagreement over the governing the Commission. Section 18
through ECINet and actions alleged- through which electoral rolls are main- decision itself. of the Chief Election Commissioner
ly resulting in the exclusion of eligi- tained. The distinction cannot simply be and Other Election Commissioners
ble voters. The allegations remain That makes the dispute different settled through political statements. It (Appointment, Conditions of Service
matters for judicial examination, but from an ordinary disagreement be- requires examination of the files. and Term of Office) Act, 2023 pro-
the filing has added a legal dimen- tween officials. That is precisely why demands vides that the Commission’s business
sion to a controversy that was al- The Election Commission has for disclosure of records have become should, as far as possible, be transacted
ready becoming increasingly political. rejected the suggestion that the objec- central to the debate. unanimously and that where the mem-
The immediate trigger was a re- tions amount to institutional dissent. Former Union minister P Chid- bers differ, the majority view prevails.
port by The Indian Express that Elec- Its position is that written notes, ob- ambaram has asked the Election Com- The Indian Express report says the two
tion Commissioners Sukhbir Singh servations, technical suggestions and mission to make relevant files public, commissioners themselves referred to
Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had recorded internal checks are normal features of arguing that if decisions were indeed these provisions in their objections.
objections at least 14 times between a multi-member constitutional body. It unanimous, the documentary record The issue, therefore, is not simply
November 2025 and August 2026 over has maintained that its orders carry le- should establish that. He has specifical- whether the CEC has administrative
decisions concerning electoral rolls, gal sanction and that all final decisions ly pointed to questions allegedly raised authority. It is whether that authority
database access and the SIR process. relating to SIR were unanimous. by Sandhu and Joshi about official can be exercised in a manner that ef-
The report said the objections related That defence is important because communications, meeting procedures fectively sidelines the other members
to some of the most sensitive functions the controversy turns partly on the and appeals filed in West Bengal. of a multi-member Commission. The
of the poll panel — adding voters, distinction between internal disagree- The significance of the dispute Continued on next page... >>

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