Fired up by objections raised by election commissioners, opposition parties on Wednesday demanded the scrapping of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise and mounted a fierce attack on Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, accusing him of running the poll panel as a "one-man autocracy" and demanding his impeachment and arrest.
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), however, said election commissioners sharing differing views in official deliberations showed the Election Commission was functioning democratically, and dismissed opposition allegations that it was "dictatorial."
Two election commissioners, Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi, red-flagged issues relating to the deletion of names under the SIR of electoral rolls and raised objections to the decision-making process 14 times in recent months, according to a report in the Indian Express.
Responding to the report, the Election Commission said differing views and observations were a normal part of deliberation in any institution, and that all its orders "are an outcome of the unanimous decisions of the full Commission in the past one year."
Opposition parties, already critical of the Election Commission over the SIR exercise, seized on the report to demand immediate impeachment proceedings against Kumar in Parliament.
Addressing a press conference at the BJP headquarters, party spokesperson Sambit Patra said: "The media reports saying that the election commissioners shared differing views in official deliberations is a reflection of pure democracy."
"If there is no communication and exchange of views among the election commissioners who conduct polls, the opposition parties would allege 'dictatorship' and call them 'yes men' of the government," he charged.
Rahul calls it treason, Congress: CEC is Shah's 'hatchet man'
Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, reiterated his "vote chori" charge against the Election Commission, calling it an act of treason and a crime against the people of India.
"The BJP, RSS and EC who organised it have committed an act of treason. Justice will be served," Gandhi said.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said that on 24 April 2026, 73 opposition Rajya Sabha MPs had submitted a new Notice of Motion to the Secretary General seeking Kumar's removal.
"The Monsoon Session of Parliament has not yet been prorogued. Will the Hon'ble Rajya Sabha Chairman now decide on that pending Notice?" Kharge said, adding that the country would demand answers from Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Congress general secretary in-charge of communications, Jairam Ramesh, alleged that Kumar had functioned as a "hatchet man" for Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who he said was in turn the designated executor of the prime minister's wishes.
"What the CEC has been doing is with the full knowledge, support and, in fact, at the instigation of the PM and HM themselves. #Gyaneshgate has been orchestrated by G2. Of that there can be no doubt," he said.
Senior Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi said there was no doubt that Kumar had no right to remain in office and must resign, calling it a serious example of "double bulldozer sarkar."
"An external bulldozer works against institutions and internal bulldozer is the CEC who has bulldozed his own organisation and his own colleagues and has hijacked the EC," Singhvi said.
Mamata seeks fresh Bengal polls
Former West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee demanded Kumar's arrest and fresh assembly elections in the state using the pre-SIR voter list, alleging that the BJP and the poll panel had "looted" the elections held earlier this year.
"It has now been proven that the BJP and the EC looted the West Bengal assembly polls," Banerjee said in a Facebook live.
"There will be pan-India protests till Gyanesh Kumar remains CEC. He must be immediately arrested and put behind bars. The chair of the CEC is not for a person like him. It's another fight for freedom, this time from the compromised CEC, and the BJP that has destroyed India," she added.
"Impeach CEC to save democracy," TMC (Mamata faction) MP Derek O'Brien said.
TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee also demanded Kumar's removal and sought a court-monitored investigation into the functioning of the poll panel. "The CEC must be removed immediately and a court-monitored investigation ordered," he said.
He alleged that "disenfranchising lakhs of voters to allegedly benefit one political party strikes at the very foundation of our democracy," and said those responsible must be held accountable.
Thackeray, Kejriwal, Stalin demand SIR rollback
Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray and AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal demanded that Kumar be jailed and removed from his post immediately.
Thackeray demanded that Kumar be jailed and that the last elections in Maharashtra, West Bengal and Tamil Nadu be nullified, with repolls held using ballot papers.
"Gyanesh Kumar should be immediately sacked and jailed," the former Maharashtra chief minister said, thanking the election commissioners for "exposing" Kumar.
Kejriwal demanded that the entire SIR exercise be cancelled and that Kumar be arrested immediately, alleging he was running the Election Commission on his own, rendering the SIR carried out nationwide "illegal."
"So today, we demand that the entire SIR process be cancelled, that all changes made under SIR be cancelled, and that the voter list from three years ago be restored," the AAP chief said, adding that Kumar should be arrested and a sedition case registered against him.
DMK president MK Stalin said Kumar must resign, claiming he had no right to continue in office.
The former Tamil Nadu chief minister demanded a halt to the SIR exercise and sought a fair probe "into everything that transpired within the EC and those responsible should be held accountable."
He alleged that the extent of "political interference" within the Election Commission was "plain to see," and said the findings published by an English daily, backed by "evidence," had cast serious doubt over the results of every assembly election held after the SIR exercise.
Stalin added that his party had consistently opposed moves to delete crores of voters from electoral rolls in the name of SIR. "SIR exercise is riddled with irregularities, sparked widespread unrest, particularly in West Bengal," he said.
Left parties demand Gyanesh's removal, halt to SIR
The Communist Party of India (Marxist) demanded an immediate halt to the SIR process and Kumar's removal.
In a statement, the CPI(M) Politburo said the revelations raised serious questions not just about the process, but more importantly about the integrity of the Election Commission of India itself.
CPI(M) MP John Brittas said this was no longer an Election Commission but a "one-man autocracy" under Kumar, and that Parliament must immediately begin the process for the CEC's removal.
CPI general secretary D Raja said Kumar must resign over the "electoral purge" and added: "The CPI has consistently warned that governments cannot be allowed to handpick voters in a democracy"
"CEC Gyanesh Kumar has become the face of the electoral purge, eroding public trust in the constitutional body. He has no right to continue, and to restore trust and credibility in the ECI, he must resign," he said.
Akhilesh calls govts formed amid EC lapses 'unconstitutional'
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav said in Lucknow that governments formed while the Election Commission was not functioning impartially were "unconstitutional," and that "interference" with the poll panel amounted to "trampling" democracy.
Yadav said the Election Commission was a constitutional body and questioned who was "playing with" such an institution for the purpose of remaining in government.
"What can you imagine now? Would the Election Commission have been fair? Would it have been impartial?" the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister asked.
"This means that the governments which have been formed during this period are unconstitutional governments," Yadav said.
Yadav also said the latest revelations had to be viewed in the context of concerns he had raised earlier about the functioning of the Election Commission. He alleged that despite the EC being expected to function independently and impartially, its functioning had raised serious doubts about whether citizens could continue to have confidence in it.
Sibal demands FIR, says CEC bypassed majority rule
Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal demanded Kumar's suspension and the filing of an FIR to investigate who was behind the alleged actions.
Demanding the filing of an FIR to probe who is behind the CEC's actions, Sibal also said that all the work on finalising the voters list should be stopped and the Supreme Court should think about resorting to the extraordinary power of holding fresh elections.
"If this does not happen, I request all political parties to peacefully start agitating throughout the country," the former Union minister said at a press conference here.
Sibal told reporters that Gyanesh Kumar has destroyed the responsibility that has been put on the EC by the Constitution.
Originally there was only one election commissioner, he pointed out. But then through an amendment, three election commissioners were to decide matters in respect of elections under Article 324 of the Constitution; decisions of the Election Commission were to take place by majority.
"And now what has been revealed is that most of the decisions after June 25 2025 were not taken by majority, and that despite the objections of two of the three election commissioners, namely Mr Joshi and Mr Sandhu, the chief election commissioner was doing as he pleased without reference to the other two members, which is against the rules of the Election Commission itself," Sibal said.
Many of those decisions ultimately resulted in manipulating the election process, which can be attributed to the action of the chief election commissioner, he claimed.
"Now three, four things broadly which I must through you inform the people of this country... Validity of decisions: If the decisions are not taken by the majority of the Election Commission, then it's not a decision of the Commission. So, therefore, all decisions taken by the Commission so far without reference to the majority of the Commission must be declared to be null and void," he demanded.
Omar calls for corrective steps, Mehbooba warns of 'banana republic'
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said the central government and Election Commission needed to take corrective steps to prevent people from losing faith in elections.
"Corrective action needs to be taken somewhere. Otherwise, if people lose faith in elections, what remains of democracy? Election is the very foundation of democracy.... So I believe the members of the Election Commission and the Government of India need to reflect on this," the National Conference leader said.
Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti warned that India could resemble a "banana republic" if electoral-roll changes allegedly favouring the BJP continued unchecked.
"Our country, India, which is seen as the largest democracy in the world, and which our prime minister proudly speaks of it as the 'Mother of Democracy' whenever he is abroad, (but) today, they are trying to subvert the very fundamentals of Indian democracy, which is the electoral process, by fudging the electoral rolls -- something these two Election Commissioners have pointed out," she said.
"That is what I say, if this continues, and if we do not have people like these two Election Commissioners... I will not name them right now. Who knows what trouble they might face - they might face ED raids, Income Tax raids, or worse. But if it continues like this, there will be a time when we will resemble a banana republic, and there will be no democracy left," she added.
Mehbooba also praised the two commissioners as "the only silver lining", saying they had the "courage and integrity to question those in power", and criticised Pakistan over its handling of dissent and the detention of Imran Khan's sisters.
(With inputs from PTI and ANI)