23 September,2026 07:09 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
Uddhav Thackeray (right) demanded the removal and arrest of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar on Wednesday. PICS/ SHADAB KHAN
Opposition parties in Maharashtra on Wednesday stepped up their attack on the Election Commission of India (ECI) over reports that two Election Commissioners had raised objections to decisions linked to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. While Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray demanded the sacking and jailing of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) called for an all-party meeting over the issue, news agency PTI reported.
Meanwhile, senior Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan urged the Supreme Court to take suo motu cognisance of the media report and examine the functioning of the Election Commission. He also appealed to Opposition parties to "initiate proceedings" for the removal of the CEC.
Thackeray demanded that the last assembly elections in Maharashtra, West Bengal, and Tamil Nadu be nullified and fresh polls be held in the three states using ballot papers.
The Opposition's reactions came after a newspaper report stated that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had raised objections to multiple issues, including voter deletions, during the pan-India SIR exercise. The report said the two commissioners had formally objected to decisions and orders on several occasions over the past 10 months.
The ECI, however, rejected the suggestion that the reported internal notes indicated a breakdown in its functioning. In a statement on Wednesday, the poll panel said differing views and observations were a normal part of deliberations in a multi-member constitutional body and that its orders carried full legal sanction and followed established statutory procedures.
The Commission also said that not only the three Election Commissioners, but every officer of the ECI, was authorised to offer suggestions to improve the electoral system.
"Gyanesh Kumar should be immediately sacked and jailed because he has murdered democracy and insulted the Constitution," Thackeray told a news conference.
He claimed that the two Election Commissioners had "revolted against Kumar" and said it could be "assumed that they have removed CEC because they have the majority now". Thackeray also said the two commissioners should cancel what he described as wrong decisions taken by the poll panel.
He further demanded that the elections in Maharashtra, West Bengal, and Tamil Nadu be declared invalid and repolls conducted using ballot papers.
Thackeray also claimed that 90 lakh voters had been deleted in West Bengal and 70 lakh in Tamil Nadu during the SIR process. He said 45 lakh voters were added in Maharashtra ahead of the 2024 Assembly Elections and alleged that objections had now been raised against 40 lakh citizens on the electoral rolls.
The Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) chief alleged that the poll body had been following a pattern of "stealing and killing democracy".
"They first freeze the symbol and then give a partial decision. They used it for Sena (UBT), NCP and now TMC. Shiv Sena (UBT) is an example of how decisions have been given on whims and fancies," he added.
Meanwhile, Aaditya Thackeray alleged that the Election Commission had turned India into the "world's largest former democracy".
"Working as agents for one party, to finish off India's democracy, they have snatched away the voting rights of millions of Indians," he said.
"What started with the Universal Adult Franchise (elections) when India won its Independence has now been turned into selected voter rolls by this institution. The institution itself, once impartial, is now a fraud," Aaditya Thackeray alleged.
Shiv Sena (UBT) Member of Parliament (MP) Sanjay Raut also called for action against Kumar and urged the judiciary to take cognisance of the media report.
"Gyanesh Kumar will go to jail! He will have to go! Their masters will flee the country and run away!" Raut said in a post on X.
He also demanded the removal of Union Home Minister Amit Shah from the Union Cabinet and said legal action should be taken against the CEC.
"If Modi ji isn't taking action against Gyanesh Kumar, then I appeal to the President to sack the CEC," stated Raut.
The NCP (SP) described the reported differences among the Election Commissioners as a "Constitutional emergency" and called for an immediate all-party meeting.
NCP (SP) MP Supriya Sule said the issue concerned the constitutional rights of every citizen and should not be treated merely as a political matter.
"If the system itself is going to collapse, whom should we trust?" Sule told reporters in Delhi.
She said the matter was "very, very serious" and required an open discussion involving all political parties.
"This is not merely a political issue. It concerns the rights of every citizen of the country. It has now become a national issue," Sule said.
Asked whether CEC Gyanesh Kumar should "step aside", Sule said there should first be an open discussion on whether the allegations were true.
NCP (SP) General Secretary Mahesh Tapase also sought an explanation from the CEC over the reported objections.
"When such things happen, every citizen of this country must sit up and ask: who is really running our elections?" Tapase said.
He stated that deliberately bypassing collective decision-making was not an administrative lapse but a "hijacking of a Constitutional institution".
Tapase demanded an "open explanation" from the CEC on "why decisions were taken despite the written objections of two sitting Commissioners".
Speaking to PTI Videos in Delhi, Chavan urged the Supreme Court to take suo motu cognisance of the media report and examine the Election Commission's functioning.
He said the apex court could summon all three Election Commissioners, call for their files and examine how decisions had been taken in recent days.
"The Supreme Court should investigate what is happening at the Election Commission. The court can exercise its powers under Articles 32 and 142 of the Constitution," the former Maharashtra chief minister stated.
Chavan also urged the Opposition to initiate proceedings for the removal of the CEC.
"The Congress party, Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi and all opposition parties should immediately initiate proceedings for the removal of the Chief Election Commissioner. The Constitution provides for the removal of the CEC in the same manner as a Supreme Court judge," he added.
The ECI has maintained that written notes, observations and technical suggestions by commissioners and officers are part of its routine internal checks and that final decisions taken by the full Commission were unanimous. It said highlighting selected internal notes over a 10-month period, without considering the wider body of approvals, decisions and initiatives, presented only one part of the picture.
(With PTI inputs)
