New Delhi, India – An investigation by The Indian Express has revealed an unprecedented rupture within the Election Commission of India (ECI), with two of its three members recording formal objections at least 14 times over the past 10 months to decisions they said were taken without their knowledge. The findings have triggered a fierce political storm, with Opposition parties demanding the arrest and removal of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar.
According to the investigation, Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi raised concerns on record regarding key aspects of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. Their objections covered the centralisation of the voter database, “unauthorised and illegal” changes to Form 6 used for new voter registration, and the deletion of voters in states like West Bengal and Goa . The report states that the two Commissioners even wrote separately to the Cabinet Secretary, complaining about changes in work allocation that removed a layer of oversight over the IT backbone for electoral rolls . In one instance, Sandhu described an EC decision as “unauthorised and illegal” .
The investigation has prompted a sharp response from the Opposition. Former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal demanded that Gyanesh Kumar be arrested, stating, “Gyanesh Kumar was running the Election Commission of India on his own” . He called for the cancellation of recent elections in several states and the reinstatement of electoral rolls dating back three years . Congress leader Rahul Gandhi declared that “vote chori” is a “crime against the Indian people,” while party leader K.C. Venugopal demanded a Supreme Court-monitored investigation into what he called the “chief architect of vote chori” . Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray also demanded Kumar’s arrest, thanking Sandhu and Joshi for “exposing” him .
In response, the ECI has denied any internal rift, with sources stating that all decisions were unanimous and carried the signatures of all three members . The Commission issued a press note saying that “all actions of ECI have been in accordance of laws and instructions of the Commission,” and that internal notes and observations are part of standard administrative practice . However, former Chief Election Commissioner S.Y. Quraishi countered this, stating that “all decisions are illegal if they are not unanimous or backed by the majority,” and called for a public list of all decisions and whether they had majority backing . Former EC Ashok Lavasa added that if two commissioners say they were not involved, the only way to refute it is to show records of their presence in the meetings where decisions were taken .
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The controversy comes amid heightened scrutiny of the SIR exercise, which has seen over 13 crore names deleted from draft electoral rolls across 30 states and Union Territories . The Hindu‘s analysis found that in 24 out of Delhi’s 70 constituencies, the draft roll now records fewer electors than those who voted in the February 2025 Assembly election . The investigation’s findings raise fundamental questions about the legality of decisions taken in the Commission’s name and the integrity of the electoral process.
