Akhilesh Yadav Raises Alarm Over Election Commission Disputes

Lucknow, September 23 (Daily Kiran) : The internal disagreements within the Election Commission regarding the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls have sparked significant political controversy. A recent media report indicates that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi have raised written objections to the Commission’s decisions and procedures at least 14 times over the past ten months.

According to the report, both commissioners have questioned several decisions made without their knowledge. Citing this information, Akhilesh Yadav, the national president of the Samajwadi Party, has criticized the Election Commission and urged the Supreme Court to take suo motu cognizance of the issue.

Yadav expressed grave concerns on social media platform X, stating, “It is extremely serious news that in the last ten months, two election commissioners have formally objected to the Election Commission’s erroneous decisions 14 times. This directly implies that all election commissioners are not able to perform their duties effectively. If members of an independent body do not have the freedom to act justly or are not heard, it poses a grave danger to democracy. Deceiving democracy by becoming puppets of a few individuals is a serious constitutional crime. This is nothing less than a conspiracy to dismantle democracy. I urge the honorable Supreme Court to take suo motu cognizance.”

The media report highlights that over the past ten months, there have been numerous questions raised regarding key decisions and processes related to the SIR within the three-member Election Commission. These objections were formally submitted by commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi. The nationwide process of Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls is currently being overseen by all three election commissioners.

The report further notes that Sandhu and Joshi have lodged at least 14 formal objections to certain decisions and orders, including instances where objections were filed four times in a single day. Both commissioners contend that these decisions or orders were made or issued without their knowledge or consent. The scope of these objections pertains to critical tasks of the Election Commission that directly affect voter rights and the credibility of the electoral rolls.

These issues include the registration of new voters, removal of names from the voter list, reinstatement of removed names, appeal processes against orders for reinstating names during the SIR, and the custody and security of the entire voter list data. Copies of the objections filed have also been sent to the Chief Election Commissioner.