In an unusual escalation of differences within the Election Commission of India (ECI), two Election Commissioners, Dr. Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Dr. Vivek Joshi, wrote separate letters to Cabinet Secretary TV Somanathan on July 29, 2026, objecting to the conduct of a senior Commission official and seeking appropriate action, records released under the Right to Information (RTI) Act show.
The letters, addressed to the Cabinet Secretary, concerned senior Deputy Election Commissioner Maneesh Garg and an order he issued revising the allocation of work among senior officers. The two Commissioners alleged that the changes were made without prior discussion with the Commission or the officers concerned. The development comes amid questions about differences within the poll body. Within hours of taking charge as link officer, Garg issued an order revising the allocation of work among Senior Deputy Election Commissioners, Deputy Election Commissioners, Director Generals and equivalent officers.
The Indian Express reported on September 23 that two Election Commissioners had objected on record 14 times in 10 months to steps involving the addition of new voters and deletion of names from electoral rolls, and had approached the Cabinet Secretary over concerns about the integrity of the voter database. In his letter, Sandhu said Garg was assigned additional charge of the Administration Division on July 28, during the leave of Deputy Election Commissioner Bhanu Prakash Yeturu.
He alleged that Garg had allocated work to himself as well as to officers senior or equivalent to him, and said similar orders had been issued earlier when Garg was working as Deputy Election Commissioner (Administration). “This has happened in spite of repeated and explicit oral and written instructions to all concerned officers by the undersigned against taking such actions without prior discussion/approval of the Commission,” Sandhu wrote. He alleged that the action violated Sections 18(1) and 18(2) of the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Act, 2023, and sought “appropriate action”.
