Election Commission’s bid at damage control raises more questions

• All three Election Commissioners met on 26 September amid criticism of the Commission’s handling of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

• A press note issued after the meeting announced changes to meeting procedures, voter-registration requirements and the handling of some SIR cases.

• The measures address several issues raised in The Indian Express investigation, but questions remain about how earlier decisions were made.

The jury is out on whether the Election Commission of India on Saturday climbed out of the hole it dug for itself since June, 2025 or it merely succeeded in digging the hole deeper. As protests spread across the country for removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, scrapping the contentious Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and an independent inquiry into the Commission’s functioning, all three Commissioners met at 3 pm on Saturday and tried to reassure people that all is well.

All is not well though. Even as the Election Commission met today, a damning claim was made by a former Chief secretary of Kerala, Jiji Thomson, who claimed to Manorama Online that Gyanesh Kumar in 2016 had asked him to contest on a BJP ticket. While Kumar was appointed an Election Commissioner in March, 2024 and became the Chief Election Commissioner in February, 2025, the damning claim reveals his close association with the ruling party. It would make his position more untenable and make it more difficult for him to remain in his post.

Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi took to X to point it out:

The bland press note issued by the ECI, being described as too little and coming too late, showed both desperation and a desperate attempt to repair the damage done to the Commission’s image and credibility.

1.   The press note issued today, 26 September 2026, does no deny any of the points raised in the Indian Express report and by two of the Election Commissioners on 14 different occasions in the last 10 months, as reported by the Express and others.

2.  The press note in fact accepts that no agenda was being circulated before the meetings of the Commission and no minutes afterwards. It states that the Commission today ordered that agendas and minutes be circulated henceforth.

3.  The Commission, the press note states, put it on record that the Supreme Court had approved the procedures in the SIR including changes online in Form 6, used by new voters to register themselves, in its order dated 27 May 2026. The change in Form 6, however, was introduced in July 2026, a month and a half after the Supreme Court order.

4.   The ECI does not have the authority to make any change in Form 6, an issue flagged by the two Commissioners other than the CEC. How could the Supreme Court have approved it?

5.  Moreover, the press-note glosses over the fact that the Supreme Court in May 2026 approved SIR conducted only in Bihar last year. Several other petitions challenging SIR in West Bengal and other states continue to be heard by the Supreme Court.

6.  The press note does not deny that Annual Performance Appraisal Reports (APAR) were held up because the Commission failed to be convened. The press note merely records that the Commission resolved to clear all pending APRs by 31 December, 2026.

7.  The press note does not deny that ECI employees were allowed to travel abroad without clearance or approval of the Commission. In a clear self-goal and in a tacit admission the press-note states that no employee would henceforth travel abroad without approval and proper sanction.

8.   The Commission does not deny that Electoral Registration Officers (EROs), notably in Goa, failed to access ECINET and correct the erroneous deletions in at least 91 cases. As many as eight reminders sent to the ECI went unanswered and there was no response from the DG (IT) Seema Khanna although she was marked each time. The press-note merely states now that 83 of the 91 voters in Goa had filled up form 6 and were being put back on the rolls.

9.  The Commission’s press-note fails to address any of the reservations about its technology platform ECINET, which integrated the BLO App, ERONET and 41 other apps without running tests and without certifying that it has no vulnerabilities.

10.  The Commission, however, resolved to constitute an expert panel and invite an expert from IIT to examine ECINET.

Specific relief offered by the ECI today stated that the declaration attached to Form 6 would have to be filled out only during the SIR exercise while adding that the earlier format would be applicable otherwise for fresh voter registration; electors who have been left out by SIR because they were not “mapped” or were flagged for “logical discrepancy” will not be issued notices for hearings. The Booth Level Officers (BLOs) will instead visit their houses and collect the necessary documents; the Commission also extended the claims and objections period for Maharashtra and Delhi till 12 October and 30 October respectively.