The Indian Express report alleges that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi recorded a series of objections over the past ten months, warning that major actions were being taken in the name of the full Election Commission of India without their knowledge.
Both commissioners flagged the centralisation of the electoral‑roll database as a key concern. In May, Joshi proposed an audit to ensure that only statutory authorities could modify the database, while in August Sandhu warned that state‑level officials lacked proper access to the ERONet portal and that the commission’s director‑general of IT, Seema Khanna, had no legal authority to restrict that access.
The report also highlighted a disputed change to Form 6, the voter‑registration form, which was altered to ask whether the applicant or their ancestors “exist” in the roll after the last special intensive revision. Joshi warned in May that such a change required amendment of the 1960 Registration of Electors Rules, and Sandhu called the amendment “unauthorised and illegal” in August, demanding its immediate reversal.
Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, condemned the alleged “vote chori” as a crime against the Indian people and an attack on the Constitution, accusing the BJP, RSS and the Election Commission of treason and announcing a press conference on Thursday to press the issue further.
Congress leader K.C. Venugopal echoed the demand for the CEC’s removal, calling for a Supreme Court‑monitored impartial investigation to expose what he described as rot that has destroyed the Election Commission’s credibility, and urging that due process be followed with “utmost probity.”
The opposition has already lodged two parliamentary motions seeking the CEC’s removal: a March 12 motion that was rejected by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and Rajya Sabha Chairman C.P. Radhakrishnan, and a fresh 13‑page notice submitted on April 24 by 73 Rajya Sabha opposition MPs outlining nine specific charges against Kumar.
The Election Commission responded on the same day, asserting that all its actions have been taken in accordance with the law and the commission’s instructions, and warning that focusing on a limited set of internal notes provides only “one part of the picture.”
Under the 2023 law governing the Election Commission, decisions are to be made unanimously where possible; if the chief commissioner and the two commissioners disagree, the majority decision should prevail. The opposition’s demand for Kumar’s removal therefore raises questions about whether the commission’s internal dissent has been adequately addressed under that framework.