NEW DELHI: The opposition on Wednesday cited a media report, which claimed that the two Election Commissioners objected to the Election Commission’s steps 14 times in 10 months amid the SIR rollout, and alleged that Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar has “destroyed” the credibility of the poll panel.
Many of them also called for Kumar’s removal.
The opposition’s reaction came after The Indian Express revealed that questions were raised on issues related to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls within the three-member Election Commission (EC) itself, time and again by two of the three Election Commissioners, Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi.
The national rollout of the SIR has been under the supervision of all three Commissioners. But Sandhu and Joshi have formally objected, on record, at least 14 times over the last 10 months four times on a single day to decisions taken and orders issued, they say, without their knowledge, the report in the English daily said.
Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh shared the screenshot of the media report on X.
Ramesh said that on behalf of the party, his colleague Abhishek Singhvi will be speaking in detail to the media on the sensational revelations made in a leading national newspaper on the way “the CEC has destroyed the credibility and integrity of the Election Commission of India”.
Congress MP Manish Tewari also reacted to the media report, saying that if the ostensible facts as reported are correct then it seems to suggest that there is an “invisible hand” running the Election Commission.
“If rules were not allegedly followed and decisions were taken that were not unanimous or by majority then all the decisions of @ECISVEEP are per -se arbitrary and capricious if not completely illegal,” Tewari said on X.
“This is perhaps a fit case for serious considering an impeachment proceeding but more importantly the fundamental question is as to how will the credibility of @ECISVEEP be ever resurrected,” he said.
Congress MP Mohamed Javed also cited the report and said this demands more than silence.
“CEC Gyanesh Kumar must disclose every disputed decision, explain who authorised it, and answer the objections on record. Electoral institutions cannot operate without transparent accountability,” he said on X.
CPI(M) MP John Brittas said this is no longer an Election Commission, it is a “one-man autocracy” under CEC Kumar.
“Two Election Commissioners have formally objected 14 times in 10 months. They branded the addition of new voters and mass deletion ‘unauthorised and illegal’. They recorded objections to secret deletions, restorations, and form 6 changes that harass young first-time voters all while being kept in the dark,” he said.
This is the open subversion of the EC and our democracy too, Brittas said.
“Parliament must immediately start the process for the removal of the CEC. We had in fact submitted a notice for removal on 24th April, 2026 as per the constitutional stipulations solid grounds and around 70 members signing( 50 in the stipulated number),” he said.
The Constitution provides this power for precisely such moments of institutional capture and subversion, he said.
“The Supreme Court must annul the entire SIR process without delay. 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,” Brittas said.
What Kumar is doing is the death knell of a democratic nation, he said.
“Remove the CEC. Strike down the SIR. Or accept that free and fair elections in India are already being buried,” the CPI(M) MP said.
Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut also cited the media report, and said “A-Gyanesh Kumar will go to jail! He will have to go! His masters will flee the country and run away!”
TMC Rajya Sabha leader Derek O’Brien said on X, “Five months ago, 60+ Rajya Sabha MPs (50 needed) wrote to Chairman RS moving Motion to remove CEC 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”.
