The Election Commission of India (ECI) is embroiled in a severe institutional controversy centering on allegations of irregularities against Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar. The core of the dispute emerged from an investigative report revealing that fellow election commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi were allegedly kept out of the loop on multiple key decisions over the past 10 months, registering formal objections on record 14 times.
The revelations have provided powerful ammunition for opposition parties. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi sharply criticized the CEC, accusing him of undermining Indian democracy. In response to the growing crisis, opposition groups, including Congress workers and youth outfits, have taken to the streets in protest, demanding Mr. Kumar’s immediate resignation.
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The friction within the poll body heavily overlaps with the contentious Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter lists. Opposition leaders allege that changes made to electoral forms—such as Form 6—were pushed through without proper consensus, fueling fears of voter disenfranchisement and manipulation in favor of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Several former CECs have also weighed in, calling unauthorized alterations to voter registration procedures legally flawed and alarming for the electoral process.
Defending the institution, the BJP has launched a robust counter-offensive. Ruling party spokespersons dismissed the opposition’s claims as politically motivated, accusing Congress of attempting to destabilize constitutional bodies and hypocritically lecturing on democratic norms. Meanwhile, the ECI maintains that divergent viewpoints are a routine part of its internal deliberations.
While internal friction is not entirely unprecedented in the history of the poll panel—echoing past disputes during the tenures of figures like T.N. Seshan and Ashok Lavasa—the current convergence of street protests, legal questions, and opposition pushback places the ECI under unprecedented public pressure.
