RAHUL GANDHI ACCUSES CEC GYANESH KUMAR OF ‘MATCH-FIXING’ ELECTIONS

September 26, 2026

NEW DELHI: Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Saturday accused Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar of being placed in charge of “match-fixing” India’s elections, escalating the Opposition’s criticism of the Election Commission amid the ongoing controversy over the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls.

Gandhi’s remarks followed a claim by former Kerala Chief Secretary Jiji Thomson that Kumar had approached him in 2016, while both were serving as senior bureaucrats, and suggested that he contest the 2019 Lok Sabha election on a BJP ticket. Thomson said he declined the proposal. These claims are based on Thomson’s account and have not been independently established.

Sharing a post by the Kerala Congress that cited the report, Gandhi alleged that Kumar had been involved in political recruitment while serving as an IAS officer and later became the “umpire” overseeing the country’s elections. There was no immediate public response from Kumar to Gandhi’s allegations.

The latest confrontation comes amid Opposition criticism of the Election Commission’s handling of SIR and reports that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had raised objections to certain decisions. The ECI has maintained that differences, observations and administrative suggestions are part of institutional deliberations and has said that final decisions on SIR were unanimously approved by the full Commission.

The BJP and Congress remain sharply divided over the allegations concerning the poll panel, while the reported account involving Thomson and Kumar has added another element to the ongoing political dispute over the Election Commission’s functioning and electoral-roll revision process.