Election Commission Dismisses Claims of Disagreement Among Commissioners

New Delhi, September 23 (Daily Kiran) : The Election Commission of India (ECI) has rejected a report from a major newspaper claiming that two election commissioners raised formal objections to several decisions made by the commission without their knowledge.

Insiders have clarified that no commissioner voiced dissent regarding the ECI’s decisions. They explained that the two commissioners only made comments, which were later considered by the commission.

This controversy arose following a report by The Indian Express, which alleged that over a period of ten months, the two commissioners officially objected on 14 occasions to decisions made by the commission.

According to the report, these objections pertained to various decisions and processes, including accusations of keeping commissioners in the dark and issues related to adding new voters or removing names from voter lists.

Sources indicated that all ECI decisions are signed by Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi.

Additionally, ECI regulations stipulate that if two out of three commissioners agree on a matter, the majority decision is considered valid.

An ECI source stated, “All decisions of the Election Commission of India, including the SIR, are made unanimously with the approval of both election commissioners and the Chief Election Commissioner.”

Opposition parties have launched a fresh campaign against the ECI, accusing it of using the SIR process as a calculated move that could lead to the removal of names from voter lists, potentially benefiting the BJP.

Rajya Sabha member Kapil Sibal claimed that the report confirms that “the majority was not with Gyanesh Kumar,” and he accused the Chief Election Commissioner of making decisions unilaterally.

The Election Commission has dismissed these allegations, asserting that the purpose of the process is to ensure the accuracy and reliability of voter lists.