Uttar Pradesh Congress leaders on Saturday sought greater public disclosure on the Election Commission of India’s (ECI) functioning, the appointment of the chief election commissioner (CEC), alleged differences within the poll panel and the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process.
Mishra also raised questions about the CEC’s appointment process and the procedures followed by the Commission. Congress leaders said that after Parliament enacted a law in December 2023, the composition of the CEC selection committee changed.
“The question is not merely whether the ECI has the power to conduct SIR but with what degree of transparency and institutional consensus are decisions relating to the electoral rolls being taken?” said Aradhana Mishra, leader of the Congress Legislature Party, at a press conference held with party national spokesperson Abhay Dubey. Mishra and Dubey said that written objections by two election commissioners, including complaints about not being informed about decisions and references to changes in new voter forms as “unauthorised and illegal”, warranted clear public answers. The Congress alleged that election commissioners also raised objections to the change and questioned the legal basis for adding a new mandatory condition that, it said, falls outside the procedures prescribed by statutory rules.
She addressed the media along with Puneet Pathak, media coordinator for the Eastern Zone, and Kunwar Singh Nishad, chairman of the UP Congress Committee’s media department. The Congress also referred to a dissent note recorded by Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi during the appointment of Gyanesh Kumar as CEC in February 2025.
“Rahul Gandhi objected to the exclusion of the CJI from the selection committee,” Mishra said.
