Congress leader renews ‘vote chori’ allegations, questions electoral process after reports of objections within poll panel over SIR
New Delhi, September 2026 : Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Thursday demanded the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and urged him to become an “approver” in what the Congress leader alleged was the “stealing” of votes.
Gandhi’s remarks came a day after a report in The Indian Express said Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had raised objections on record on several issues related to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and the handling of voter data. The Election Commission of India (ECI), however, rejected the suggestion of a split within the poll panel, saying differences of opinion were part of internal deliberations and that decisions on SIR were taken unanimously.
Addressing a press conference in New Delhi, Gandhi questioned what he described as the absence of anti-incumbency against the BJP and said such a political phenomenon traditionally affects governments irrespective of their popularity.
Citing former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, he said that even after the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War, her government faced significant anti-incumbency within a relatively short period. Gandhi questioned why, in his view, the phenomenon appeared to have disappeared in states such as Maharashtra, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.
“This is an attack on the basic infrastructure of the expression of every single Indian,” Gandhi alleged, arguing that the integrity of elections was central to the functioning of the Constitution and democratic institutions.
The Congress leader also reiterated his earlier allegations of electoral irregularities, including claims concerning the 2014 Lok Sabha election and several Assembly polls. He said questions raised by him had not received adequate answers from what he described as the country’s institutional framework.
Gandhi argued that if votes were improperly taken away or manipulated, the legitimacy of representatives elected on the basis of those votes would be affected. He further contended that laws and institutional changes made by such governments would consequently come under question.
He referred to the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Act, 2023, which governs the appointment and service conditions of the Election Commission. Gandhi also invoked the Congress’s earlier “vote chori” campaign and the Voter Adhikar Yatra as part of his broader allegations concerning electoral integrity.
Referring to the reported objections raised by Sandhu and Joshi, Gandhi alleged that action had not been taken because, in his view, Gyanesh Kumar had political protection from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah. These allegations were not independently established in the report cited by Gandhi.
The Indian Express investigation reported that Sandhu and Joshi had formally raised objections at least 14 times over a 10-month period concerning aspects of the poll panel’s decisions and orders. The ECI subsequently said that while the two commissioners had raised concerns over issues such as voter deletions and database handling, these did not amount to disagreement with the final decisions of the Commission.
Gandhi said the developments had exposed what he described as fundamental problems with India’s electoral system and demanded Kumar’s immediate resignation.
Directly addressing the CEC, he alleged that the actions under question amounted to an attack on the Constitution and the country’s legal framework, asserting that the Election Commission’s primary responsibility was to protect the vote.
Gandhi also praised the two Election Commissioners for raising their concerns and said they had done the “wise thing” by coming forward. He then advised Kumar to resign and become an “approver”, describing such a step as an act of nationalism.
The Congress leader further alleged that Prime Minister Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah would eventually face investigation over what he described as the destruction of the electoral system. He also accused those allegedly responsible of attacking democratic institutions.
The remarks add to an escalating political confrontation over the SIR exercise and the functioning of the Election Commission. The poll body has maintained that differing views among commissioners are a normal part of deliberations and has rejected claims that the reported objections represented an institutional rupture.
