Patra said the communications between Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and two Election Commissioners, Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi, cited by opposition parties as evidence of internal dissent, actually demonstrate the commission's democratic functioning. He referenced an ECI statement responding to a news report that claimed Sandhu and Joshi had formally recorded objections at least 14 times over ten months, arguing that such deliberations show the body reaches unanimous decisions through consultation.
Patra accused the Congress and other opposition parties of repeatedly trying to sow distrust in constitutional institutions after being "repeatedly rejected by the people in the democratic sphere." He said the opposition's latest target was the Election Commission and the SIR process, which the Supreme Court has upheld as legally valid on multiple occasions.
Addressing accusations of "vote theft" during the SIR process after CEC Gyanesh Kumar took office in February 2025, Patra pointed to the recent West Bengal Assembly elections. He noted that the Trinamool Congress (TMC) won 13 of the 20 seats where the highest numbers of electors were deleted, while the Congress secured one seat and the BJP six. He added that in 49 constituencies where deletions exceeded the eventual victory margin, the BJP won 26 seats, the TMC 21, and the Congress two.
Patra also highlighted what he described as a pattern of former Election Commissioners moving into roles associated with the Congress after retirement. He cited K.V.K. Sundaram, Nagendra Singh and R.K. Trivedi—who received Padma awards, with Trivedi later serving as a governor—as well as V.S. Ramadevi, who became a governor, T.N. Seshan, who contested a Congress ticket, and M.S. Gill, who joined the Congress as a Rajya Sabha member and Union Minister. He also mentioned J.M. Lyngdoh, N. Gopalaswami, and Navin Chawla, who later held prominent positions.
Patra recalled that until 2023, the Prime Minister appointed Election Commissioners at his discretion. He noted that in March 2023, the Supreme Court prescribed an interim mechanism requiring the President to appoint the CEC and Election Commissioners 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.
Concluding, Patra urged that the internal deliberations among the three Election Commissioners reflect a functioning democracy, warning that any portrayal of the commission as a "dictatorship" would be a mischaracterization driven by opposition narratives.