A fresh political controversy has erupted around Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and the Election Commission of India after a report claimed that two Election Commissioners had repeatedly raised objections to decisions connected with voter rolls and the Special Intensive Revision (SIR).
The controversy has now moved beyond the question of voter-list revision. Several Opposition parties are demanding action against Gyanesh Kumar, with some leaders calling for his removal and a probe into the functioning of the Election Commission.
At the same time, the Election Commission has rejected the suggestion that there was a formal split or final disagreement among its three members. The poll body says its final decisions, including those related to SIR, were unanimous.
So, what exactly is the controversy? And why are Opposition parties demanding the resignation or removal of Gyanesh Kumar?
What is SIR?
SIR stands for Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls.
In simple terms, it is an exercise to check voter lists and update them. The Election Commission says the purpose is to identify eligible voters, remove duplicate or ineligible entries and keep electoral rolls updated.
The exercise began in Bihar in 2025 and was later expanded to other states and Union Territories. The scale of the exercise has made it politically sensitive because changes to voter rolls can affect who is eligible to vote.
An investigation published by The Indian Express reported that more than 13 crore names had been left out of draft voter rolls across 30 states and Union Territories during the SIR process. However, being left out of a draft roll does not automatically mean that a person has been permanently removed from the final electoral roll. There are procedures for claims and objections.
So, where did the new controversy begin?
The immediate trigger was a report by The Indian Express published on September 23.
The report said Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had formally raised objections at least 14 times over a period of about 10 months.
According to the report, their concerns covered several issues, including addition of new voters, deletion and restoration of names, changes to Form 6 used for voter registration, appeals concerning electoral-roll decisions and access to voter databases.
The report said that on some occasions the two Commissioners questioned whether certain steps had been taken without their knowledge.
One issue concerned changes to Form 6, which is used by people applying to be included in the voter list. The report said questions were raised over changes linking new voter applications to previous intensive revisions.
The two Commissioners also reportedly raised concerns about the handling and centralisation of electoral-roll data.
Did the two Election Commissioners oppose Gyanesh Kumar’s decisions?
This is where the controversy becomes complicated.
The report says Sandhu and Joshi recorded objections to several actions and orders of the Election Commission.
However, the Election Commission has rejected the interpretation that this means there was a formal split between the three Commissioners.
The ECI said Commissioners can have different observations or suggestions during discussions. According to the Commission, these discussions are part of the normal decision-making process.
Most importantly, the ECI said all its final decisions, including decisions concerning SIR, were approved unanimously by the three Commissioners.
This means there are two competing descriptions of what happened:
The report says two Commissioners repeatedly raised objections to certain decisions and questioned aspects of how some steps were taken.
The Election Commission says those internal observations should not be treated as final dissent because the Commission’s final decisions were unanimous.
Why is Gyanesh Kumar facing the Opposition’s anger?
Opposition parties have been questioning the Election Commission’s handling of SIR for months.
Their concern is that large-scale changes to voter lists could result in genuine voters being left out if the verification process is not handled properly.
The latest report has given the Opposition another reason to question the functioning of the poll panel because, according to the report, concerns were raised from inside the Commission itself.
Congress, Trinamool Congress, Samajwadi Party, Aam Aadmi Party, CPI(M) and PDP leaders have joined calls for action against Gyanesh Kumar, according to The New Indian Express. Some have demanded his removal, while others have called for an investigation and changes to the SIR process.
What has Rahul Gandhi said?
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has intensified his criticism of the Election Commission.
Reacting to the latest report, Gandhi accused the BJP, RSS and Election Commission of what he described as “vote chori” and said the issue was an attack on the Constitution.
He wrote on X, “Vote chori is a crime against the Indian people and a direct attack on our Constitution. The BJP, RSS and EC who organised it have committed an act of treason. Justice will be served.”
Congress leaders have also demanded the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
These are political allegations made by the Opposition. The Election Commission has rejected the broader suggestion that its decisions were taken without proper institutional approval.
What has Uddhav Thackeray demanded?
Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray has also demanded the removal of Gyanesh Kumar.
Thackeray said the objections reportedly raised by Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi supported concerns that Opposition parties had previously raised about the Election Commission.
He went further and demanded that Gyanesh Kumar be removed and jailed, while also calling for a probe into the functioning of the poll panel.
These are Thackeray’s allegations and demands, not established findings against the CEC.
What has Mamata Banerjee said?
Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee has also attacked Gyanesh Kumar over the SIR controversy.
On September 23, Banerjee demanded fresh elections in West Bengal and called for action against Kumar, alleging that the state’s 2026 Assembly election was compromised.
She also demanded Kumar’s arrest and criminal proceedings.
Again, these are political allegations. They have not been established as findings by a court or an independent investigation in the sources reviewed for this report.
What is the Election Commission saying?
The Election Commission has strongly pushed back against the suggestion of an internal breakdown.
The ECI said different views, comments and suggestions are normal during institutional deliberations.
It also said that final decisions are what matter and maintained that the Commission’s decisions, including those relating to SIR, were unanimous.
The Commission has also argued that focusing only on a limited number of internal observations does not show the full picture of its work.
In other words, the ECI’s position is that an internal officer or Commissioner raising a question during deliberations does not necessarily mean that the final decision was opposed by that Commissioner.
Why is the 14-objection figure important?
The number 14 has become central to the political controversy because the Indian Express investigation says Sandhu and Joshi raised objections on at least 14 occasions over 10 months.
According to the report, some objections related to voter deletions, restoration of names, registration of new voters and voter-data management.
The political significance comes from the fact that the objections were reportedly made by two of the three members of the Election Commission.
The ECI, however, says these were part of internal deliberations and did not change the final decisions of the full Commission.
Is Gyanesh Kumar being removed?
As of September 23, 2026, Opposition parties are demanding his removal or resignation, but the reports reviewed do not establish that he has resigned or been removed.
The Election Commission continues to defend its functioning and says its final decisions were unanimous.
Therefore, the current situation is a political and institutional dispute over how the Election Commission handled electoral-roll revisions and internal deliberations.
Why this controversy matters
The Election Commission is responsible for conducting elections and maintaining electoral rolls. Therefore, any dispute over how voters are added, deleted or verified can have a direct impact on public confidence in the electoral process.
The current controversy is therefore not only about Gyanesh Kumar personally. It is also about how the Election Commission makes decisions, how electoral-roll changes are carried out and whether adequate checks exist when large numbers of voter records are reviewed.
The immediate political dispute is likely to continue as Opposition parties seek explanations and action, while the Election Commission maintains that its final decisions were taken collectively and unanimously.
