Election Commission Pushes Back on Dissent Reports, Says All SIR Decisions Were Unanimous
- On Wednesday, an investigation by The Indian Express revealed that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi formally recorded at least 14 objections over 10 months to decisions concerning the Election Commission of India's Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls.
- Sandhu and Joshi labeled specific orders as "unauthorised and illegal," citing concerns over changes to statutory Form 6 and the centralization of electoral-roll databases, which they argued bypassed state-level statutory authorities responsible for maintaining voter lists.
- Defending its procedures on Wednesday, the Election Commission asserted that all major decisions were unanimous, describing internal observations as "written notes, observations, technical suggestions and internal checks-and-balances" that are standard practice.
- Opposition parties, including the Congress and TMC, launched fierce demands for the immediate arrest and impeachment of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, alleging an "one-man autocracy" threatening democratic integrity.
- This dispute intensifies scrutiny on the nationwide Special Intensive Revision process, which has removed 130 million voter names since 2025, raising questions about how state-level officials maintain independent oversight of electoral rolls.
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92 Articles
Channel News Asia
India opposition condemns election chief after newspaper investigation
NEW DELHI: India's political opposition demanded the removal of the top election official on Wednesday (Sep 23) after a newspaper investigation alleged that decisions behind a contentious voter-roll revision may have been taken illegally.The Election Commission of India (ECI) has been under scrutiny in recent
Indian Express' ECI-SIR narrative falls apart: A point-by-point rebuttal of its claims of ‘illegal’ action and centralisation
If there is one thing The Indian Express appears to have discovered during its latest investigation into the Election Commission of India, it is that the words “internal crisis”, “illegal”, “centralisation” and “cloud over its conduct” make for excellent headlines. Whether the evidence supports the dramatic narrative is another matter. On September 23, The Indian Express, in a series of reports authored by Ritika Chopra, presented what it descri…
Devdiscourse
Opposition lambasts CEC Gyanesh Kumar after media report says two Election Commissioners objected to SIR decisions
He says, "BJP govt is playing a game with SIR. They want to remove Muslims from the country and make it a Hindu country. The govt, by the way of SIR, cannot remove the names of voters. The court has severely attacked the Election Commission on SIR.
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