Union minister Chirag Paswan has urged CEC Gyanesh Kumar to firmly respond to Opposition allegations.
His remarks came amid reports that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi formally objected at least 14 times over 10 months to decisions concerning voter registration, deletions, database access and SIR.
The ECI has maintained that decisions of the three-member Commission, including those related to SIR, were taken unanimously.
Union minister and Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) chief Chirag Paswan has said Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar should “firmly respond” to allegations raised by the Opposition to ensure that public trust in the electoral process is not affected.
Paswan was responding on Friday to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s demand for Kumar’s resignation amid a political controversy over the functioning of the Election Commission of India (ECI) and reported differences among its three commissioners.
“If such questions are being raised against the Election Commission, I believe it is also the responsibility of the Election Commission, especially the CEC, to firmly present its side,” Paswan told reporters.
He said the ECI must ensure that doubts about the electoral process do not take root among voters. “The Election Commission must maintain the trust of the people,” he said, adding that the poll panel should clearly put forward its position on the allegations.
What Triggered The ECI Controversy?
Paswan's remarks follow an investigative report by The Indian Express that said Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had raised objections over a 10-month period to decisions they alleged were taken by Kumar without their knowledge.
According to the report, the disagreements concerned voter registration and deletion, access to electoral-roll databases, changes to Form 6 and the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. In some instances, the two commissioners reportedly questioned whether certain decisions had been taken without their knowledge.
The ECI has maintained that differences during internal deliberations are part of institutional decision-making and said decisions of the three-member Commission were taken unanimously. It has also defended its electoral-roll technology and said its digital systems operate under security protocols designed to prevent unauthorised manipulation of electoral data.
The controversy has also become part of a broader political dispute over the SIR and electoral-roll management.
Rahul Gandhi Demands CEC’s Resignation
Rahul Gandhi on Thursday demanded Kumar’s immediate resignation, alleging that the controversy showed the country’s electoral system was “fundamentally broken”. He accused the CEC of undermining the constitutional and legal framework governing elections and called on Kumar to cooperate with the allegations raised against him.
Gandhi also questioned why the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi had continued to win elections despite what he described as the normal political effect of anti-incumbency. He alleged that Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, industrialist Gautam Adani, National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and PM’s principal secretary PK Mishra were involved in a conspiracy to manipulate elections.
These allegations have not been established, and the BJP and ECI have rejected Gandhi’s broader claims concerning the electoral process.
Gandhi has previously accused the ECI of “vote chori”, alleging irregularities in electoral rolls. In 2025, he cited Aland in Karnataka and Rajura in Maharashtra as examples, alleging deletion of Congress voters in the former and fraudulent additions in the latter. The ECI rejected the allegations as “incorrect and baseless” and said the law requires due process before a voter’s name can be deleted.
In August 2025, Kumar had asked Gandhi to substantiate his voter-fraud allegations through a sworn affidavit within seven days or apologise.
BJP, Congress Step Up Political Campaign
The BJP has defended the Election Commission and rejected Gandhi’s allegations. BJP Rajya Sabha MP Sudhanshu Trivedi said decisions of the three-member Commission were taken unanimously and questioned the basis for claims about differences within the poll panel.
BJP spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari separately mocked Gandhi’s press conference as a “damp squib” and “Jhoot Ki Goonj”, a play on the Congress leader’s “Chhatron Ki Goonj” initiative. He also disputed Gandhi’s comments on anti-incumbency, saying the BJP had lost 20 elections since 2014.
The political confrontation has also spilled onto the streets. Assam Congress president Gaurav Gogoi was detained by police on Friday during a protest demanding Kumar’s resignation. Gogoi alleged irregularities in the ECI’s functioning and sought legal action against the CEC.
Meanwhile, the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) has also demanded Kumar’s resignation and announced a nationwide protest from October 2 if he does not step down by Saturday. CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke said the proposed agitation would begin in Mumbai and subsequently extend to other cities.
The competing claims come as the ECI faces intensified scrutiny over the SIR, electoral-roll management and the reported differences among its commissioners, with the poll panel maintaining that its decisions have been taken unanimously.
