14 objections by two Election Commissioners put India’s SIR process under fresh scrutiny
Opposition demands action against CEC Gyanesh Kumar, questions poll panel’s impartiality
New Delhi: An investigation by The Indian Express into the Election Commission of India’s (ECI) handling of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter rolls has triggered a political controversy after revealing that two of the three Election Commissioners formally objected at least 14 times over 10 months to decisions and orders they said had been taken without their knowledge.
The ECI comprises the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and two Election Commissioners of equal rank.
The Indian Express investigation reported that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had raised objections over key aspects of the electoral process, including the addition, deletion and restoration of voters, appeals against decisions taken during the SIR, and the custody and security of the electoral roll database. The two commissioners also described certain measures concerning new voters as “unauthorised, illegal” and raised concerns over what they termed the “gradual centralisation” of the electoral roll database.
The report said that in July, Form 6, used for registration of new voters, was modified to ask applicants whether their names, or those of their parents or grandparents, appeared on the electoral roll from the previous SIR, despite Vivek Joshi had reportedly raised concerns in May that the form could not be changed in this manner without an amendment to the relevant rules. Sukhbir Singh Sandhu later described the change as “unauthorised and illegal” and said it “must be removed immediately”.
The two commissioners also raised concerns about the centralisation of the voter database. Joshi flagged a “gradual centralisation of the electoral roll database”, while Sandhu cited reports from state-level election officials that they did not have “proper and complete access” to the ERONet system. The investigation also reported that the two commissioners approached Cabinet Secretary T V Somanathan over concerns relating to the integrity and administration of voter-registration software.
Sandhu also questioned the authorization of appeals filed in West Bengal against voters whom judicial officers had included in the electoral rolls, asking who had authorised the appeals on behalf of ECI.
The findings prompted sharp criticism from Opposition leaders, who said that CEC Gyanesh Kumar undermined the Election Commission’s institutional independence and collective decision-making.
Congress leader Pawan Khera described Gyanesh Kumar as a “termite” and said that he was being “fed and protected by the BJP to hollow out the Election Commission of India from within”. He said that the situation within the Commission had become “messy, dysfunctional and, frankly, disturbing”. He added that Gyanesh Kumar exercised “extraordinary control” over the poll panel and said that he had “presided over the destruction of the integrity of India’s electoral process at the BJP’s behest”.
Trinamool CongressMP Abhishek Banerjee called for Kumar’s immediate removal and a court-monitored investigation, saying that “disenfranchising lakhs of voters to benefit one political party strikes at the very foundation of our democracy”. He also urged the Supreme Court to examine what he described as questions concerning the “institutional impartiality” of the poll panel.
CPI(M) MP John Brittas said that the CEC had turned the Election Commission into a “one-man autocracy” and called on Parliament to begin the process of his removal. He also demanded that the SIR process be annulled, arguing that the objections raised by two of the three commissioners warranted judicial scrutiny.
Congress leaders Jairam Ramesh, Priyank Kharge, Pramod Tiwari and Sachin Pilot also criticised the developments. Kharge said that the CEC had bypassed the other commissioners and undermined collective decision-making, while Tiwari called for Kumar’s resignation and demanded that the concerns raised by the two commissioners be made public.
AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh called for Kumar’s arrest, stating that elections across Delhi, Haryana, Maharashtra, Bihar and West Bengal had been won through “dishonesty” and demanding that those elections be cancelled with immediate effect. Journalist Ravish Kumar also called for an investigation into the Election Commission and questioned the integrity of the electoral process.
The SIR, which began in Bihar in June 2025 as an exercise to revise and update electoral rolls, has so far removed more than 13 crore names in draft electoral rolls across 30 Indian states and Union territories.
Notably, earlier in April, 73 Opposition MPs in the Rajya Sabha submitted a notice seeking the removal of CEC Gyanesh Kumar, alleging “proven misbehaviour” in connection with acts and omissions since March 15, 2026. The notice is pending before the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha.
