OPPOSITION STEPS UP DEMAND FOR CEC GYANESH KUMAR’S REMOVAL OVER SIR CONTROVERSY

September 24, 2026

NEW DELHI: Opposition parties intensified their demand for the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar on Wednesday, following reports that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had raised objections on several occasions to decisions concerning electoral-roll management and the Special Intensive Revision (SIR).

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said a notice seeking Kumar’s removal under Article 324(5) of the Constitution, submitted by opposition MPs in April, remained pending before the Rajya Sabha chairman. Other opposition leaders, including Rahul Gandhi, Mamata Banerjee, Arvind Kejriwal, Uddhav Thackeray and Derek O’Brien, also called for action against the CEC and demanded greater scrutiny of the SIR process.

The controversy followed reports that Sandhu and Joshi had recorded at least 14 objections over 10 months on issues including voter additions and deletions, changes to Form 6 and the handling and centralisation of electoral-roll data. Opposition parties have sought publication of the objections and, in some cases, a court-monitored investigation.

The Election Commission has rejected the suggestion of a formal rift, maintaining that decisions, including those related to SIR, were taken unanimously with the approval of all three commissioners. The commission has also defended SIR as an exercise intended to identify ineligible or duplicate entries and ensure that eligible voters are included in the electoral rolls.