On Wednesday (September 23, 2026), opposition parties demanded the ouster of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar following an Indian Express investigation that reported two of the three Election Commissioners, Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi, had formally raised objections at least 14 times over a ten-month period.
They alleged that significant decisions were being taken in the name of the full Election Commission without their knowledge, describing several of these actions as “unauthorised and illegal.”
The parties further urged the Supreme Court to initiate suo-motu proceedings based on the report. Congress leader K.C. Venugopal called for an impartial probe under the supervision of the Supreme Court to "reveal the decay that has undermined the ECI's credibility."
In a post on X, LoP Rahul Gandhi called it as a 'vote chori' and an 'act of treason' and warned the officials of Election Commission that what they are doing is crime is an act of treason against the Indian State and we time comes we will come after you, you can't escape.
Election Commission of India (ECI) responded to the allegations through the post on X, stating that all decisions of the Commission, including those related to SIR, have been taken unanimously with the consent of both Election Commissioners and the Chief Election Commissioner.
Indian Express investigation raises serious question on conduct of Election Commission of India as a single unit and integrity of electoral roll amid the ongoing Special Intensive Revision, SIR ion various states of India.
The express investigation majorly focusses these important issues;
downplaying the role of statuary election officials by centralised software
adding of questionnaire in Form 6, which is alleged to be introduced without required amendments in statutory law.
Communication breakdown between Chief Election Commissioner and Election Commissioners and Election Officials;
In May this year, Election Commissioner Vivek Joshi suggested conducting an audit to confirm that “no one other than the designated statutory authorities has any credentials enabling them to alter the voter database.”
In August, Election Commissioner Sukhbir Singh Sandhu noted that State-level election officials were reporting that they “do not have proper and complete access” to the ERONet portal, the digital platform used to manage electoral rolls.
He further pointed out that the Commission’s Director-General of IT, Seema Khanna, “does not have any legal authority to limit proper and complete access or the freedom to operate, as granted by law to the statutory authorities.”
The two ECs said Form 6 — which new voters must fill to register— was altered to ask if the applicant or their parents/grandparents “exist” in the electoral roll of the last SIR.
EC Joshi had warned as early as May that such a statutory form cannot be changed without amending the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, and Mr. Sandhu had agreed calling the change “unauthorised and illegal” in August, demanding its immediate removal.
Election Commissioner Sandhu also raised concerns about who had permitted the West Bengal Commission to lodge appeals against voters already reinstated on the rolls by judicial tribunals, resulting in 3.8 million appeals still pending.
They also highlighted the Goa case, in which 97 voters deemed eligible by local Electoral Registration Officers after a Supreme Court-ordered hearing were excluded from the final electoral roll because the centrally managed software lacked any feature to record the EROs’ decisions, even though the CEO’s office had written eight times requesting a rollback option.
In a post on X, Congress general secretary (organisation) K.C. Venugopal stated that, in light of the expose, CEC Gyanesh Kumar no longer has any right to stay in office. We demand Gyanesh Kumar’s immediate removal and a Supreme Court-monitored impartial investigation to expose the rot that has destroyed the ECI’s credibility. If Gyanesh Kumar remains in office, the people of India will come forward and make sure that our democracy is not destroyed by a mere bureaucrat, he wrote on X.
Samajwadi Party Cheif and Kannuaj MP, Akhilesh Yadav posted on X, criticising the conduct of Chief Election Commission and urged the Supreme Court to take suo motu cognisance of the report.
He wrote, This is an extremely serious news that in the past 10 months, 2 Election Commissioners have registered their objections 14 times against the Election Commission's wrong decisions.
This directly means that all Election Commissioners are not able to perform their rightful duties.
If the members of an independent body do not have the freedom to carry out just actions or if there is no hearing of theirs, then these are extremely fatal and dangerous circumstances for democracy.
For some people to betray democracy by becoming puppets of those in power is a grave constitutional crime. This is nothing less than a conspiracy to wipe out democracy. Honorable Supreme Court, take suo motu cognizance!
CPI(M)’s John Brittas alleged the Election Commission had become “a one-man autocracy under CEC Gyanesh Kumar.”
“When two of the three Commissioners put on record that the exercise is illegal and destructive of the electoral roll’s integrity, judicial silence becomes complicity. What Gyanesh Kumar is doing is the death knell of a democratic nation”. Mr. Brittas added.
Whereas Mahua Moitra posted cryptic message on X. She wrote none of this information leaks to press unless the powers want it to. It is now clear that 2/3 Election Commissioners worried about day of reckoning & want to cover their butts. No clearer sign that BJP on way out.
Derek O’Brien, a Rajya Sabha MP from the Mamata Trinamool Congress, said that five months ago, over 60 Rajya Sabha members—exceeding the required 50—submitted a letter to the RS Chairman proposing a motion to remove Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
“After big news break today that two Election Commissioners objected to many of CEC’s actions, it’s time to bring out the RS Motion today. Impeach CEC to save democracy,” Mr. O’ Brien said.