India's Electoral Commissioners, Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi, have said decisions in the electoral process were approved without their knowledge and have filed 14 notes in 10 months to review the changes (Newslaundry, 2026; Daily Pioneer, 2026).
A conflict of interest has emerged between these two Electoral Commissioners and the Chief Electoral Commissioner, Gynaesh Kumar, and this article covers the specific actions taken that have been termed ‘illegal and unauthorised ’, as well as the individual roles of each member of this three-member electoral team.
The Indian Express reported that Sandhu and Joshi had formally objected at least 14 times to the decisions related to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), which is the Commission rechecking the electoral rolls nationwide (Newslaundry, 2026).
In its report, the SIR included a new question that was newly included in the first-time voter form, Form 6, asking if the new voter or their parents or grandparents exist in the electoral roll of the last SIR (Newslaundry, 2026; Daily Pioneer, 2026). Without answering this question, applicants could not proceed with registration. Another change to the SIR included restriction of field officers’ access to the ECI’s information technology, which has the list of electoral rolls by state. The SIR process also resulted in the removal of 13 crore names from voter rolls across 30 states and union territories (Newslaundry, 2026).
Sandhu and Joshi described these changes as unauthorised and illegal, demanding that they be changed. According to the report by The Business Standard, they also flagged the issue of officials redistributing work without the ECI’s knowledge, not receiving the agenda and minutes of the ECI’s meetings and offices being sent on field work without the Commissioner’s approval (Business Standard, 2026).
Other notes, as reported by The Indian Express, include the effect of the SIR change in West Bengal. Sandhu raises a question, and what this asks is who authorised the appeals in the Commissioner's name if appeals were filed to remove these same voters. Business Standard report mentioned 1.61 million appeals filed against voters that judicial officers included in West Bengal tribunals (Business Standard, 2026).
Sandhu also told the Commission’s senior officers that many of the communications go out in the name of the ECI, but they do not have the approval of the Commission (Daily Pioneer, 2026).
What does Chief Electoral Commissioner, Gynaesh Kumar, have to say?
As reported in Business Today, sources within the poll body told India Today TV that the reports on the changes made without Sandhu and Joshi’s consent and all decisions regarding the SIR were unanimous. It also indicated that individual views of the ECs do not amount to the decisions of the Commission. What this plainly explains is that although individual objections against these changes were stated, it does not change the outcome that the decision was unanimous (Business Today, 2026).
Opposing parties, including the Congress, have alleged that the voters were removed and this favoured the BJP party, as stated earlier in the deletion of names in West Bengal. These allegations were denied, and Kumar’s response is a challenge to Rahul Gandhi, asking him to substantiate his allegations by providing proof of vote theft or to apologise (Business Today, 2026).
The arrest of Gynaesh Kumar has been demanded over these allegations, and the ECI has ordered a special enrollment for voters who were left out during the SIR process (Business Standard, 2026).
But there's still a pending question: if the decision was made unanimously, and the commissioners objected formally, did they still sign off on the SIR? Business Today reports positively, but neither Sandhu nor Joshi has publicly spoken.
References:
- Business Standard, Opposition demands CEC's arrest, poll body says 'unanimity' in decisions: https://www.business-standard.com
- Business Today. All about Gyanesh Kumar, the CEC at the centre of the SIR row: https://www.businesstoday.in
- Daily Pioneer. (2026). SIR row: What Indian Express found. https://dailypioneer.com
- Newslaundry. (2026). ECI revises SIR notices after Indian Express report. https://www.newslaundry.com
- India TV. (2026). Supreme Court upholds power of EC to conduct SIR. https://www.indiatvnews.com