The Election Commission of India has countered allegations of autocratic decision-making by stating all actions are unanimous, amid reports of Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi raising multiple objections on electoral roll processes and software integrity. Opposition parties have voiced concerns and demanded accountability, while the commission maintains its decision-making is inclusive and based on majority opinion.

The Election Commission of India has countered allegations of autocratic decision-making by stating all actions are unanimous, amid reports of Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi raising multiple objections on electoral roll processes and software integrity. Opposition parties have voiced concerns and demanded accountability, while the commission maintains its decision-making is inclusive and based on majority opinion.

The Election Commission of India has countered allegations of autocratic decision-making by stating all actions are unanimous, amid reports of Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi raising multiple objections on electoral roll processes and software integrity. Opposition parties have voiced concerns and demanded accountability, while the commission maintains its decision-making is inclusive and based on majority opinion.

Amid allegations of one-man autocracy in the Election Commission of India, the poll body sources have issued a clarification, stating all decisions were “unanimous and had the approval of both Election Commissioners and the chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.”

The clarifications come amid reports that the two Election Commissioners - Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi -  objected to the Election Commission's steps 14 times in 10 months. Questions were raised on issues related to the Special  Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls within the three-member Election Commission by Sandhu and Joshi, according to The Indian Express.

“Two out of three Election Commissioners complained about being kept in the dark about various steps, including adding new voters and deleting names,” the report added. It said two Commissioners wrote separately to the Cabinet Secretary complaining about the integrity of voter software and changes in work allocation.

Joshi recorded in May that Form 6 could not be changed through instructions issued for the SIR and that the "legally sustainable" course would be to send the proposal to the government for amending the rules. Sandhu concurred with him. However, a declaration linking new voter applications to the SIR was subsequently introduced in the online Form 6. In August, Sandhu recorded that the change was "unauthorised and illegal" and should be removed immediately, the report said.

The two Commissioners have repeatedly questioned whether the  Electoral Registration Officer, a statutory authority on the ground, has been restricted from seeing the constituency’s voters’ list.

Following the report, Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh accused the CEC Gyanesh Kumar of destroying the credibility and integrity of the Election Commission of India.

Congress MP Manish Tewari also reacted to the media report, saying that if the ostensible facts as reported are correct, then it seems to suggest that there is an "invisible hand" running the Election Commission. "If rules were not allegedly followed and decisions were taken that were not unanimous or by majority, then all the decisions of @ECISVEEP are per se arbitrary and capricious if not completely illegal," Tewari said on X.

Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Derek O'Brien on Wednesday urged Parliament to table a notice of motion signed by more than 60 opposition Rajya Sabha MPs demanding the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.

However, the Election Commission told reporters that it was part of normal procedure for a commissioner to raise questions or express their opinion during a discussion. In a three-member commission, all election commissioners have equal say. If there is a disagreement on an issue, a decision is made based on the majority opinion, it said.

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