BJP DEFENDS EC DELIBERATIONS AMID CONTROVERSY OVER SIR-RELATED OBJECTIONS

September 23, 2026

NEW DELHI: The BJP on Wednesday defended the Election Commission amid a political controversy over reported differences among its three commissioners regarding the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. BJP MP Sambit Patra said internal exchanges and deliberations among constitutional functionaries were part of the institutional decision-making process and described them as a feature of democratic functioning.

Patra was responding to reports that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had raised objections or queries on several occasions concerning electoral-roll procedures, including aspects of the SIR exercise. The reports said such exchanges occurred 14 times over a period of 10 months.

The Election Commission has acknowledged that operational queries and inputs were raised by the two commissioners, but said these were made at the draft stage and constituted normal administrative practice. The poll panel maintained that written observations, technical suggestions and internal checks are part of deliberations and that all final decisions, including those relating to SIR, were taken unanimously by the full Commission.

Patra also accused the Congress of questioning constitutional institutions over electoral setbacks. Opposition parties, meanwhile, have used the reported exchanges to question the functioning of the poll panel and the conduct of the SIR exercise. The Election Commission has said its electoral-roll revision process follows statutory procedures and that its digital systems operate under security and audit controls.