One-man autocracy: Opposition wants CEC Gyanesh Kumar ‘impeached’ over EC’s 14-objection report | Today’s news
The Opposition on Wednesday alleged that Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar had “destroyed” the poll panel’s credibility. Leaders cited an Indian Express media report which claimed that two Election Commissioners had raised objections to the Election Commission’s actions 14 times in 10 months during the implementation of the SIR,
Many leaders also demanded Kumar’s removal and impeachment.
The opposition’s reaction came after The Indian Express revealed that issues related to the special intensive review (SIR) of electoral rolls within the three-member Election Commission (EC) itself were raised time and again by two of the three election commissioners, Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi.
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The objections, according to a report in The Indian Express, were on issues including adding new voters, deleting and restoring names, changes to Form 6 and the functioning of the technology used to manage electoral rolls.
The national roll-out of SIR was overseen by all three commissioners. But Sandhu and Joshi have formally objected at least 14 times in the past 10 months — four times in a single day — against decisions taken and orders issued, they say, without their knowledge, the English daily reported.
Congress general secretary in charge of communications Jairam Ramesh shared a screenshot of a media report on X.
“Destroyed Credibility”
Ramesh said that on behalf of the party, his colleague Abhishek Singhvi would speak to the media in detail about the sensational revelations made in leading national newspapers about the way “the CEC has destroyed the credibility and integrity of the Election Commission of India”.
Congress MP Manish Tewari also reacted to the media report and said that if the alleged facts as reported are correct, it seems to indicate that an “invisible hand” is guiding the Election Commission.
“If the rules were allegedly not followed and decisions were taken that were not unanimous or majority, then all @ECISVEEP decisions are themselves arbitrary and capricious, if not outright illegal,” Tewari said on X.
“This is perhaps an appropriate case for serious consideration of the impeachment process, but more importantly, the fundamental question is how @ECISVEEP’s credibility will ever be resurrected,” he said.
CPI(M) MP John Brittas said this is no longer the Election Commission, it is a “one-man autocracy” under CEC Kumar.
“Two Electoral Commissioners have formally objected 14 times in 10 months. They have called the addition of new voters and mass erasures ‘unauthorised and illegal’. They have objected to secret erasures, renewals and changes to Form 6 that harass young first-time voters – all while remaining secret,” he said.
This is an open subversion of the EC and also of our democracy, said Brittas.
“Parliament must immediately start the process to recall the CEC. In fact, on April 24, 2026, we filed a call for recall under the constitutional provisions – solid grounds and about 70 signatures (50 in the stipulated number),” he said.
The Constitution provides this power precisely for such moments of institutional capture and disruption, he said.
Blame CEC for saving democracy: Derek O’Brien
“The Supreme Court must immediately nullify the entire SIR process. When two of the three commissioners state that the exercise is illegal and destroys the integrity of the electoral roll, the silence of the judges becomes complicit,” Brittas said.
What Kumar is doing is the death knell of a democratic nation, he said.
“Abolish the CEC. Delete the SIR. Or accept that free and fair elections in India are already buried,” the CPI(M) MP said.
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TMC Rajya Sabha Chairman Derek O’Brien said in X: “Five months ago, 60 Rajya Sabha MPs (50 needed) wrote to the Chairman RS moving Motion to remove CEC Gyanesh Kumar. After today’s big news that two Election Commissioners have objected to many actions of CEC, it is time to introduce RS Motion to save democracy. Blame CEC.”
Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut also quoted a media report and said, “A-Gyanesh Kumar will go to jail! He will have to go! His masters will flee the country and run away!”
