Communication between CEC, EC shows working democracy: BJP

BJP National Spokesperson and MP Sambit Patra addressing the media at the dissenting line of Election Commissioners at the BJP headquarters in New Delhi on September 23, 2026. | Photo credit: Sushil Kumar Verma

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday (Sep 23, 2026) said communications between the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and two election commissioners, cited by opposition parties as evidence of internal dissension within the institution, instead demonstrated its democratic functioning.

BJP MP and spokesperson Sambit Patra accused the Congress and other opposition parties of constantly trying to create voter distrust in constitutional institutions after being “repeatedly rejected by people in the democratic sphere”, claiming that their latest target was the Election Commission of India (ECI) and the ongoing Special Intensive Review (SIR) process.

He accused the Congress of being associated with numerous controversies regarding the independence and impartiality of the ECI during its rule in the past.

In a press conference referring to the ECI’s statement on Wednesday (September 23, 2026) in response to a report which claimed that two of the three election commissioners, Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi, had formally registered objections at least 14 times in 10 months, Mr Patra said it showed that the constitutional body had finally accepted the democratic process unanimously.

“If the three election commissioners do not communicate with each other, there is no comment, no consultation and everyone keeps saying ‘yes, yes’, then the opposition parties would claim ‘dictatorship’. Official negotiations between the three are a sign of a functioning democracy,” Patra said. Regarding the opposition’s accusation against the SIR process, he said that the Supreme Court has confirmed its legal validity several times.

On allegations of “vote-stealing” during the SIR process after he took over from current CEC Gyanesh Kumar in February 2025, the BJP leader said that in the recently concluded West Bengal polls, the Trinamool Congress had won 13 of the 20 assembly seats where the highest number of voters were crossed out. Congress won one and BJP six seats.

He also pointed to the distribution of election results in West Bengal constituencies where the number of strikeouts exceeded the margin of possible victory. Out of 49 constituencies, BJP won 26, TMC won 21 and Congress won two.

Career after retirement

“…the birth of rigging, the birth of fraud, started with the Congress itself,” Mr. Patra said, referring to the post-retirement career, constitutional appointments and honors of several former election commissioners.

He was referring to KVK Sundaram, Nagendra Singh and RK Trivedi receiving the Padma award, with Mr. Trivedi later serving as Governor; VS Ramadevi, who was subsequently appointed Governor; TN Seshan, who later contested for the Congress ticket; and MS Gill, who became a member of the Congress Rajya Sabha and a Union minister. He also mentioned Navin Chawla who became CEC in 2009 and oversaw the 2009 Lok Sabha polls.

“In 2012, VS Sampath was appointed as CEC. Lal Krishna Advani ji strongly protested against it, saying it was somehow unfair and there should be a collegium through which the Chief Election Commissioner should be selected,” Mr. Patra said, adding that till 2023, the Prime Minister appointed Election Commissioners according to his own discretion, wishes and “discretion”.

In March 2023, the Supreme Court ordered, as a temporary mechanism until Parliament passed a law, that the President should appoint the CEC and the Election Commissioner on the advice of a three-member committee comprising the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha and the Chief Justice of India.

Published – 23 Sep 2026 21:40 IST