States » WestPosted at: Sep 24 2026 5:57PM


Left parties demand Gyanesh Kumar’s removal, nationwide protests against SIR

New Delhi, Sep 24 (UNI) The five Left parties on Thursday stepped up their attack on the Election Commission of India, demanding the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, an immediate halt to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and restoration of voting rights to all eligible citizens allegedly excluded from the rolls, following reports that two of the three Election Commissioners had raised objections to several decisions of the poll panel.
In a joint statement, the Communist Party of India (Marxist), Communist Party of India, Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist)-Liberation, Revolutionary Socialist Party and All India Forward Bloc said the September 23 report in The Indian Express on objections recorded by Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi raised “fundamental questions” about the functioning and integrity of the ECI under CEC Gyanesh Kumar.
According to the report, Sandhu and Joshi had formally raised objections on at least 14 occasions over 10 months concerning voter registration, deletion and restoration of names and aspects of the SIR exercise. The two Commissioners had also reportedly raised concerns over decisions being taken without their consent and over the increasing centralisation of voter-database access in Delhi, restricting the role of statutory officials at the state and constituency levels.
“These are not limited to the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls alone. They raise grave concerns also about the functioning and integrity of the Election Commission of India. They are an indictment of the office of the CEC, which stands compromised,” the Left parties said.
They said the objections recorded by two members of the three-member Commission indicated that concerns over the management of electoral rolls and related technological systems had emerged from within the ECI itself.
The parties also said the disclosures reinforced concerns repeatedly raised by opposition parties and civil society organisations over the transparency and decentralised functioning of the electoral-roll system. They specifically referred to the reported objections regarding the centralisation of the voter database and restrictions on access available to Electoral Registration Officers and other statutory authorities.
“The consequences are not merely administrative,” they said, pointing to the reported case in Goa where software restrictions allegedly prevented Electoral Registration Officers from recording their decisions that 97 voters were eligible to be restored to the electoral rolls.
The issue, the parties said, went beyond the SIR exercise and directly concerned the transparency and democratic functioning of the ECI and the protection of universal adult franchise.
“Any system that makes the right to vote dependent on opaque, centrally controlled processes undermines public confidence in the electoral system,” they said.
The ECI, meanwhile, has rejected the suggestion that differences among the Commissioners reflected a lack of unanimity in its decisions. Responding to the Indian Express report, the Commission said the 14 notes raised by Sandhu and Joshi were “suggestions” and maintained that decisions taken during the past year were unanimous. On Thursday, the ECI further clarified that its September 23 press note defending its functioning had been issued with the approval of the full Commission.
The Left parties, however, said the disclosures demonstrated what they described as a serious institutional crisis and accused the CEC of undermining public confidence in the poll panel.
“Never before has the credibility and independence of the ECI been so low,” they said, alleging that Gyanesh Kumar had been responsible for “manipulating the system” and eroding confidence in the institution.
The five parties demanded that Kumar be removed from office, that the SIR exercise be halted and that the voting rights of all eligible citizens wrongfully excluded from electoral rolls be restored.
They also demanded restoration of what they called the “independent and democratic functioning” of the ECI and a change in the existing mechanism for appointing Election Commissioners. The parties proposed replacing the present system with a selection mechanism based on the committee suggested by the Supreme Court comprising the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition and the Chief Justice of India.
The demands come amid an intensifying political confrontation over SIR and the functioning of the poll panel. The Indian Express report said the objections raised by Sandhu and Joshi covered several aspects of electoral-roll management, including changes to Form 6 for new voters, deletion and restoration of names and the handling and centralisation of electoral data. In one instance, the two Commissioners reportedly objected to changes requiring new applicants to answer questions linked to previous SIR exercises.
The Left parties also announced a nationwide week-long protest programme from September 26 to October 2 against the functioning of the ECI and the SIR exercise.
The protests will begin on September 26, the birth anniversary of Bhagat Singh, and conclude on October 2, the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. The parties said both freedom fighters had consistently stood for democracy and secularism.
They called upon their organisational units across the country to hold programmes during the week and appealed to “all non-BJP, secular, democratic opposition parties, civil society organisations and concerned citizens” to join the movement.
The joint statement was signed by CPI(M) general secretary M A Baby, CPI general secretary D Raja, CPI(ML)-Liberation general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya, All India Forward Bloc general secretary G Devarajan and RSP general secretary Manoj Bhattacharya. UNI SKA AAB
Tags: #Left parties demand Gyanesh Kumar’s removal# nationwide protests against SIR
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