Kharge demands CEC Gyanesh Kumar's resignation over EC row, democracy

Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge has demanded the resignation of CEC Gyanesh Kumar, accusing him of being a 'BJP worker'. Citing reports of the CEC allegedly asking an official to contest for BJP, Kharge called the matter a threat to democracy.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday launched a sharp attack on Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar, demanding his resignation and asserting that the party will fight the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) issue and the Election Commission row "seriously." Speaking on the party's stand, Kharge said he has called a Congress Working Committee meeting for Tuesday, where members will discuss the issue and give their suggestions.

"I have called a working committee meeting for tomorrow, and there we'll discuss; all the working committee members will give their suggestions. And we are going to fight seriously. This issue concerns the entire country, the existence of our democracy, and the country's survival. That's why we are very serious about this issue. We'll fight, and we'll see that," he said.

CEC Propagating BJP's Philosophy: Kharge

Responding to the EC's clarification over the SIR row, Kharge alleged that CEC was propagating the BJP's philosophy. “They will say like this only, but their own people have exposed them, and their own people are telling. Even a Chief Secretary of Kerala says, our CEC himself told him to contest the election. It means that a person who is in the highest position is propagating the BJP’s philosophy, and he has become a BJP worker. So it is clear. There is nothing. He should resign,” Kharge said.

“If he has got any little moral right, he should resign from that post. And afterwards, we have to take action against him, even after resignation,” he added.

Rahul Gandhi's Allegations and EC's Clarification

Earlier, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has also alleged that the CEC was “match-fixing elections”, citing a Malayalam news channel report claiming that Kumar had approached former Keralam Chief Secretary Jiji Thomson to contest the 2026 Assembly elections on a BJP ticket.

Meanwhile, the EC clarified that a letter sent to the Cabinet Secretary, which had drawn scrutiny, related to the functioning of an officer on deputation to the poll body and not to any policy matter. The remarks came amid a political row over the EC and the SIR exercise, with Opposition parties raising questions over the functioning of the poll panel.

The Special Intensive Revision (SIR) Row

The Indian Express had reported that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi raised objections at least 14 times over 10 months on decisions and orders related to SIR and other electoral matters. The reported objections included issues concerning Form 6, voter deletions and access to electoral-roll databases.

EC Denies Institutional Dissent

Meanwhile, the poll body rejected the suggestion that these objections amounted to institutional dissent over final decisions, saying operational queries, inputs and suggestions raised during the draft stage were part of its standard administrative and decision-making process. The poll panel maintained that all decisions taken by the Commission, including those related to SIR, were unanimous and had the approval of all three commissioners.

Opposition Unites, INDIA Bloc to Meet

Opposition parties, including Congress, CPI, CPI(M), Trinamool Congress(TMC) and Shiv Sena (UBT), have called for the resignation of CEC Gyanesh Kumar.

Meanwhile, CPI(ML) Liberation general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya said an INDIA bloc meeting is expected on September 30 to discuss the SIR exercise and the functioning of the EC. He also urged that the meeting not be restricted to bloc partners alone. (ANI)

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