Opposition targets ECI over report of objections by two election commissioners; sources deny any dissent
Leaders of Opposition parties stepped up their criticism of the Election Commission of India (ECI) on Wednesday following an Indian Express report that said Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had raised objections on record to several decisions taken by the poll panel.
However, people with direct knowledge of the matter told NDTV that neither Sandhu nor Joshi had recorded any dissent. According to these sources, the two commissioners had made observations on certain issues, which were subsequently examined by the poll body.
The sources also told NDTV that all decisions taken by the ECI, including those related to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), had the signatures of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and Election Commissioners Sandhu and Joshi. They said the ECI's rules provide for a majority decision when two of the three commissioners agree on an issue.
The Indian Express, however, reported that Sandhu and Joshi had formally objected at least 14 times over a period of 10 months to decisions and orders that they said were taken without their knowledge. The report said their concerns included changes to Form 6, the addition and deletion of voters and the centralisation of electoral roll data.
According to The Indian Express report, the two commissioners had described changes to Form 6 as "unauthorised" and "illegal". The report said the changes required new voters to indicate whether they or their parents or grandparents appeared in the electoral roll from the previous SIR.
The report also said the commissioners had raised concerns over what they described as the gradual centralisation of the electoral roll database and restrictions on access for statutory election officials.
The issue has added to the political dispute over the ECI's Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls. Opposition parties have alleged that the exercise could result in the exclusion of eligible voters, while the Election Commission has maintained that the revision is aimed at cleaning up electoral rolls.
Opposition leaders including Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut, Congress leader Manish Tewari, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and DMK spokesperson Saravanan Annadurai criticised the ECI following the report.
Raut questioned the role of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and said that, if the allegations reported by The Indian Express were true, the issue raised serious questions about the conduct of the poll panel.
TMC MP Derek O'Brien also referred to an earlier move by opposition MPs seeking action against the CEC and called for an impeachment motion.
Tewari said the reported objections could be grounds for considering impeachment proceedings and questioned how the credibility of the Election Commission could be restored.
Akhilesh Yadav criticised the ECI in a post on X, alleging that the institution had become subservient to those in power.
DMK spokesperson Saravanan Annadurai also criticised the SIR process, claiming that voters were facing difficulties over discrepancies in their electoral records.
According to the information reported by NDTV, more than 97 lakh names were included in the draft electoral roll published in Delhi on August 31, while 33.13 lakh electors were identified for notices over discrepancies in their enumeration forms.
Many of the discrepancies reportedly involved details that could not be matched with the electoral roll prepared during the previous SIR in 2002.
The notice list included External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, former deputy prime minister L K Advani, former vice-president Jagdeep Dhankhar and Election Commissioner Sukhbir Singh Sandhu, according to NDTV.
The Election Commission's internal functioning and the handling of electoral-roll data have consequently come under renewed political scrutiny. (with inputs from media organisations)
