By Cedric Prakash
Ahmedabad, September 25, 2026: The India Express on September 23 had banner headlines screaming:
‘14 times in 10 months, two Election Commissioners objected on record to steps taken by Commission– from keeping them in the dark to adding new voters, deleting names’.
Thanks to their investigative journalist Ritika Chopra, The Indian Express has done a singular and extraordinary service to the people of India. The detailed ‘Express Investigation’ ( Part I) covered most of pages 1 & 2 of the daily.
A brilliant SIR (Spectacular Investigation Report) on Gyanesh Kumar, the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC), who has used the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) to disenfranchise thousands of legitimate citizens all over the country and rig the elections in favour of the ruling regime.
Kumar has betrayed the nation; he is undoubtedly the most corrupt, biased, anti-people, anti-national and incompetent Chief Election Commissioner the nation has ever seen. Several of the important decisions he took were solo, despite the two other Election Commissioners, Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi flagging off “unauthorised, illegal” moves and writing notes of dissent.
On several legitimate counts, Gyanesh Kumar must go, he must be impeached immediately!
The revelations by the IE should make even the most ardent of government followers squirm. Many of them really do not know where to look and where to go! Most may perhaps not understand the significance of what is happening in the country today.
They are ‘dumbos’ ! After all, they have been told ‘not to think’ by their bosses – if they do so, they will be called ‘dimagi naxals’ (intelectual communists).
The sensational news has sent all into a frenetic tizzy. They are huddled up – desperate to find a way out. It still has to sink in: that finally, all doors are closed! The nation is outraged – there is no way a Houdini act is possible. They have met their Waterloo!
At the heart of the IE investigative report is the undisputed fact that the Election Commission of India’s Special Intensive Revision, which began in Bihar in June 2025, an otherwise routine clean-up of the rolls, has struck more than 130 million names off the voter rolls in 30 States and Union Territories.
This has put the Election Commission at the centre of intense public debate over its role in deciding who gets to vote — and who doesn’t.
This is a mind-boggling number. A blatant violation of the rights of the ordinary citizen. Already, opposition leaders are shouting that the Indian Express report has made it clear that the Bharatiya Janata Party didn’t win Maharashtra, Bihar, Delhi, West Bengal and Haryana; Kumar made them win these states via SIR and ‘Vote Chori’ (vote stealing).
There are some significant ‘takeaways’ from this sensational piece of investigative journalism; they include:
Two out of three Election Commissioners have lodged 14 formal objections against the poll panel decisions, led by chief Gyanesh Kumar in 10 months.
• Commissioners Sandhu and Joshi allege key decisions were made without their knowledge or approval.
• The internal rift focuses on the Special Intensive Revision affecting 13 crore voter names.
• ECs challenged “unauthorised, illegal” changes to Form 6 for new voter registration.
• Concerns raised over the “gradual centralisation” of the electoral roll database via IT divisions.
• Centralised software now overrides ground-level Electoral Registration Officer decisions, blocking eligible voters.
• Centralising digital systems erodes the EC’s traditional decentralised safeguard against rigging.
• Officials questioned the legal authority of the IT Director General to restrict access for statutory officers.
• Software issues in Goa led to the disenfranchisement of 97 eligible voters despite Supreme Court orders.
• The rift highlights tensions over the 2023 Act mandate that EC business be transacted unanimously.
• Objections were copied to CEC Kumar, signalling an unprecedented constitutional authority rift.
• Unlike past individual dissents, this rift sees the Commission majority sidelined from decisions.
The investigation reveals that questions were raised on these critical issues within the three-member Election Commission itself, time and again through much of this same period. By two of the three Election Commissioners Sandhu and Joshi, no less.
The national rollout of the SIR has been under the supervision of all three Commissioners. But Sandhu and Joshi have formally objected, on record, at least 14 times over the last 10 months — four times on a single day — to decisions taken and orders issued, they say, without their knowledge.
Surely they will be on the receiving end of a vindictive regime – they will soon have the Central Bureau of Investigation, the Enforcement Directorate, the National Investigation Agency, the Income Tax Department hounding them!
Significantly, the Election Commission of India is a three-member Constitutional body whose business must be transacted as far as possible unanimously. It consists of one Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and two Election Commissioners (ECs).
Decisions are made either by consensus or, when there is a difference of opinion, the majority vote prevails through a majority vote among the three members.
All three commissioners hold equal say and status in the functioning and decisions of the commission.
If two of the three Commissioners were kept in the dark or were unaware of the Commission’s decisions, this cannot be dismissed as a mere internal or procedural matter.
It constitutes a grave assault on Indian Democracy. The credibility of this Constitutional apex institution that is expected to function independently, impartially, transparently and without political interference, has today been seriously compromised.
On the following day ( September 24), the Indian Express published an incisive editorial entitled, ‘Two ECs stand up to ask; CEC must answer, SC must not turn away.’
In a way, it is a powerful summation of their investigation report. The editorial minces no words throughout and, in its final salvo, says, “Free and fair elections are not one institutional compact among many; they are the cornerstone of how this nation, through its citizens, shapes its present and future; they are the reason players respect the rules and losers accept the verdict.
The black box has been opened, and it will not be shut again. Commissioners Sandhu and Joshi have listened to their conscience and raised key questions. The CEC must answer them, point by point — if it needs a nudge from the highest court, so be it.”
As expected, the country is on the boil. There is a national outrage. People from every walk of life have come out in the open saying, ‘enough is enough.’
Social media is reeking with anger over the fraud committed against the nation. The opposition is up in arms, calling for re-elections in Maharashtra, Bihar, Delhi, West Bengal and Haryana and saying that the CEC must go immediately! On the evening of 23 September, the ECI put out a pathetic ‘Press Release’ which does not rebut anything in the IE expose.
Practically everyone who matters in India: civil society leaders, academics and others have been sharing their views/opinions on what is happening. There are interviews and statements, there are memes and cartoons.
It is Gen Z, however, that is surely calling the shots. The leadership of the so called Cockroach Janata Party, a massive, youth-led satirical political movement in India held a press conference on the afternoon of September 24. Their unequivocal demands include:
• The resignation of the CEC Kumar within the next 48 hours
• To initiate criminal proceedings against him immediately and answer who gave Kumar the order.
(This is a very big question. Who is passing orders to Kumar ??
He alone cannot do this at all!! )
• To immediately put on hold all the upcoming polls. Freeze the SIR & roll back the January 2025 Voter’s List. Constitute an inquiry Commission which will gain public confidence and which will look into all SIR processes. Supreme Court should seize all the SIR files in their custody. So that no one can say that all files got burnt or a file got missing.
• To repeal the appointments of the election commission of India. Make a new law that inspires public confidence with the active participation of civil society members.
Great Demands indeed! They promise a nationwide campaign if their demands are not met in toto!
(Jesuit Father Cedric Prakash is a renowned human rights, reconciliation, and peace activist trainer and writer. Contact: cedricprakash@gmail.com)