Opposition parties and entities led by the Congress and the youth-led Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) have escalated demands for the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar, citing alleged irregularities in the Election Commission of India’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and reports of internal dissent within the poll panel.
The controversy intensified after a September 23 report in The Indian Express detailed that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had raised objections or concerns at least 14 times over a 10-month period regarding decisions and orders related to the SIR process and other electoral matters. Some of these, according to the report, were issued without their full knowledge.
However, the Election Commission has maintained that differing views form a normal part of its deliberative process and that final decisions on the SIR were taken unanimously.
Congress has organised widespread protests across multiple states and districts. On September 25, party workers marched to state election offices in locations including Delhi, Patna, Chandigarh, Guwahati, Lucknow, and Imphal, demanding Kumar’s removal, arrest, and an independent review of decisions and voter-list changes made under his tenure. Police used water cannons in places such as Patna, Chandigarh, and Jaipur, and tear gas in Manipur, while detaining protesters in several states.
Demonstrations continued on September 28, with Congress units staging protests in state capitals and districts in Gujarat, Telangana, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, Assam, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, and elsewhere. In some areas, workers burned effigies of the CEC. Congress general secretary (organisation) KC Venugopal described the actions as a response to what the party calls ‘anti-Constitutional’ activities, while Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi has accused the process of enabling ‘vote chori.’
Other opposition parties, including the Trinamool Congress, CPI, CPI(M), and Shiv Sena (UBT), have echoed calls for Mr. Kumar’s resignation.
Separately, the CJP, led by founder Abhijeet Dipke, issued an ultimatum on September 24 demanding Kumar’s resignation within 48 hours. The group alleged large-scale exclusions of voter names during the SIR, citing figures such as more than 2 crore deletions each in Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh, around 1 crore in Karnataka, and significant numbers in other states. CJP’s demands include an independent investigation, a freeze on upcoming elections, and a rollback of the SIR to the 2025 electoral rolls.
Mr. Dipke announced that if the resignation did not occur, nationwide protests would begin in Mumbai on October 2 (Gandhi Jayanti) and expand across cities.
The BJP has defended the Election Commission and Mr. Gyanesh Kumar, describing opposition criticism as an attempt to undermine institutional credibility after electoral setbacks.
Some ruling-party allies have urged the poll body to clarify concerns to maintain public trust.
The Congress Working Committee is scheduled to discuss the issue further, and the INDIA bloc is expected to hold related talks. Meanwhile, the SIR process continues amid the political confrontation, with opposition groups signalling sustained pressure ahead of future state and national elections.