Is dissent brewing within ECI: Who is Gyanesh Kumar, CEC at centre of controversy that rocked Election Commission of India | Explainer
PTC News Desk: Is disagreement growing within one of India’s most important democratic institutions? A media report highlighting alleged internal differences within the Election Commission of India has triggered a fresh political storm with Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar being at the centre of the controversy.
The controversy
According to the report, Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi have raised serious objections at least 14 times over the past 10 months regarding the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) and some internal procedures of the Election Commission.
Also Read: Dismissed AIG Raj Jit Singh surrenders to Patiala Police six years after on the run
The controversy has turned into a political issue, with the Congress and other Opposition parties demanding action against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
At the centre of the controversy is whether the reported objections raised by Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi represented serious disagreements over decisions taken by the Election Commission.
According to the investigation report, Sandhu and Joshi raised objections on several issues related to the management of electoral rolls. The report said they recorded objections at least 14 times over a period of 10 months, with four of them reportedly made on the same day.
Issues raised over electoral rolls
The reported objections covered several areas, including:
Addition of new voters
Deletion and restoration of names from electoral rolls
Appeals against decisions related to voter lists
Management and security of voter data
Centralised access to electoral-roll databases
One of the major issues involved Form 6, which is used by people to apply for voter registration.
According to the report, a new question was added to Form 6 on the Election Commission’s ECINet portal. New applicants were asked whether their own name, or the name of a parent or grandparent, appeared in an electoral roll from the previous Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise.
The report quoted Election Commissioner Sukhbir Singh Sandhu as objecting to the change and describing it as “unauthorised and illegal”. He reportedly called for the question to be removed.
Political flashpoint
After the report became public, opposition parties began questioning the working style of CEC Gyanesh Kumar and the impartiality of the Election Commission.
The Election Commission, however, has defended its internal process. It said that recording written comments, disagreements and suggestions while taking decisions is a normal part of its internal democratic functioning.
Congress leaders have criticised the Election Commission following the report about alleged internal disagreements within the poll panel.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi accused the BJP, RSS and the Election Commission of being involved in what he called “vote chori” and described the alleged electoral irregularities as an attack on the Constitution.
The Congress has also demanded the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and called for an independent investigation into the issues mentioned in the report.
Other Opposition parties, including the Trinamool Congress, Samajwadi Party and AAP, have also raised questions about the functioning of the Election Commission and called for investigations or action.
The Opposition’s main concern is about the reported written objections raised by two Election Commissioners. Leaders have questioned how decisions could be described as unanimous if commissioners had formally raised concerns about specific decisions during the process.
Who is Gyanesh Kumar, and why has his administrative career attracted so much attention?
Gyanesh Kumar is a senior 1988-batch IAS officer of the Kerala cadre. He took charge as India’s 26th Chief Election Commissioner on February 19, 2025.
His career has not been limited to traditional bureaucracy. He also has a strong academic background, including studies at IIT and Harvard.
- PTC NEWS
