The Election Commission said on Saturday, after a full-house meeting in the afternoon, that all three commissioners approved its June 24, 2025, order for a nationwide Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, and that the Supreme Court has upheld the order.
The official press statement came days after a media report said two election commissioners had recorded objections to some decisions taken in the commission’s name.
Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi met at Nirvachan Sadan at 3 pm on Saturday, September 26, said the note.
The ruling BJP, facing allegations of voter list manipulation, immediately pointed to this press statement and said the Congress-led Opposition’s charges now stand deflated. It carried a photograph of the three and said the set of announcements “has the approval of the full Commission”.
Today’s statement clarifies this matter unequivocally. The time will come, we will catch you. A committee will review the ECINET portal, access to which has been an issue as well.
Saturday’s note also spoke on Form 6, the enrolment form for new voters, which is a major flashpoint in the row. Outside the SIR, forms under the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, will be used, it added.
After the latest EC press note sought to address the report point by point, BJP MP Sambit Patra said in Bhubaneswar, “It had been alleged that there was a lack of consensus within the Election Commission, implying the three commissioners were not united, and that the matter had escalated to the point where the Cabinet Secretary had to intervene… The Congress has said it no longer trusts a commission led by Gyanesh Kumar and wants him removed. Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi had said at a press conference, “This is treason… The commission said the declaration attached to Form 6 for the SIR “has been upheld by the Hon’ble Supreme Court”. The commission also said meeting agendas would be circulated in advance and minutes issued, and “all directions issued by the Commissioners to the officers of the Commission shall be meticulously complied with”. The committee will be headed by a Senior Deputy Election Commissioner and will include an independent expert from an IIT or IIIT, said the note.
