Owaisi questions EC's legality amid reports of internal rift over SIR

AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi on Wednesday, September 23, questioned the legality of Election Commission decisions amid reports of internal differences among Election Commissioners over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, saying the poll panel had seen a continuous decline in public trust.

"If a majority of the Election Commission is itself in the dark on decisions taken in its name, then what is the legality of its decisions?" Owaisi wrote in a post on X. "In the past year, it has been seen how the SIR has perpetuated a crisis in which poorest of the poor are harassed and denied the dignity of being citizen. The poor are reduced to their documents," he alleged, adding, "The question used to be 'who will watch the watchdogs.' Now, it's 'Is there even a watchdog?'"

Owaisi's remarks came after a report in The Indian Express said Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had formally raised objections at least 14 times over the past 10 months to decisions and orders issued without their knowledge or approval. The objections reportedly concerned voter registration, deletion and restoration of names, changes to Form 6, appeals related to electoral rolls, and control over the voter database, with the two commissioners also flagging concerns over increasing centralisation of electoral-roll systems and, in some instances, describing certain steps on new voter registration as "unauthorised" and "illegal."

The report triggered a broader political storm, with opposition parties accusing Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar of "one-man autocracy" and demanding his removal. The Congress alleged that only Kumar's writ prevailed within the three-member Commission and accused him of behaving "like his boss Modi," repeating its charge of "vote theft."

Responding to the reports, the Election Commission said in a statement that differing views and observations are a normal part of deliberation in any institution, and that all its orders carry full legal sanction and follow established statutory procedures. The EC said not only the three Commissioners but every officer of the Commission is fully authorised to offer suggestions for improving the electoral system, and that operational queries or inputs raised during draft stages are part of standard administrative practice aimed at safeguarding voter rights.