Abhishek Demands CEC's Removal, Court-Monitored Probe Into Poll Panel Functioning

TMC's Mamata faction leader Abhishek Banerjee on Wednesday demanded the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and sought a court-monitored investigation into the functioning of the poll panel, citing a media report that two election commissioners had raised objections to decisions linked to the voter list revision.

Banerjee's demand came hours after a national daily reported that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had formally objected at least 14 times over the last 10 months to decisions and orders concerning the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) that, they said, were taken without their knowledge.

Banerjee, in a social media post, said, "The CEC must be removed immediately and a court-monitored investigation ordered."

He alleged that "disenfranchising lakhs of voters to allegedly benefit one political party strikes at the very foundation of our democracy", and said those responsible must be held accountable.

The Diamond Harbour MP also sought judicial scrutiny of concerns raised by opposition parties following the West Bengal assembly elections.

"After the West Bengal elections, all opposition parties of the INDIA bloc wrote to the CJI and SC judges raising serious concerns," Banerjee said, adding that the allegations "were neither examined nor given the scrutiny they deserved".

"When grave questions affecting the democratic process are repeatedly raised and yet remain unheard, it inevitably raises questions about institutional impartiality," he said.

Banerjee then directly turned to the Supreme Court, saying, "The Supreme Court cannot look away. The buck stops there."

"Will the CJI-led Bench act?" he added.

According to the investigative report, Sandhu and Joshi objected on record at least 14 times in 10 months to decisions involving voter registration, deletion and restoration of names, appeals concerning voters and the custody and security of the electoral-roll database. The objections included four in a single day.

The report said the two commissioners had raised questions over decisions allegedly taken without their knowledge and, in one instance, described a change concerning Form 6 for new voters as "unauthorised and illegal". They also separately approached the cabinet secretary over changes in the oversight of the IT systems underpinning electoral rolls.

The reported disagreement is significant because the Election Commission is a three-member constitutional body under Article 324, with the CEC and the two election commissioners holding equal rank. The law provides for unanimity as far as possible, with the majority view prevailing where differences remain.

The report also comes as the SIR has emerged as one of the most contentious electoral issues in the country. The exercise, which began in Bihar in June 2025, has subsequently been expanded to several states and Union territories.

West Bengal has been a particular flashpoint in the SIR debate. The exercise involved scrutiny of millions of electors and triggered repeated political objections, with the Supreme Court also intervening in aspects of the process.

The latest report has now given fresh ammunition to opposition parties, which have repeatedly questioned the Election Commission's handling of electoral-roll revision and alleged that the exercise could result in legitimate voters being excluded.