Maharashtra 23 September 2026
The Indian Express has published an investigation about the working of the Election Commission of India (ECI) The report says that two Election Commissioners, Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi, raised written objections on several decisions taken by the Election Commission during the last 10 months
According to the investigation, the two Election Commissioners raised objections at least 14 times
Their concerns were related to voter lists, adding and removing voters, applications to register as voters, and the system used to manage voter data.
One of the important issues is the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter lists SIR is a detailed process in which the Election Commission checks voter lists and verifies whether people are eligible to vote.
During this process, a large number of names were removed from draft voter lists in different states The Election Commission says that names can be removed for different reasons such as people moving away, being registered more than once or not being found eligible after verification.
Opposition parties have raised concerns about whether eligible voters could also be affected.
The investigation also raises questions about the control of the Election Commission's voter database and software.
According to the report, some decisions taken by local election officials faced problems because of the centralised system used to manage voter information.
The report gives an example from Goa, where local election officials reportedly found that 97 people were eligible to be included in the voter list.
However, there were difficulties in entering or recording these decisions in the election software system.
After the Indian Express investigation, Uddhav Thackeray criticised Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
He demanded that Gyanesh Kumar should be removed from his position and arrested. Thackeray also demanded fresh elections in Maharashtra, West Bengal and Tamil Nadu, including the use of ballot papers.
However, these are Uddhav Thackeray's political demands. They are not a court order or a decision of the Election Commission.
The Election Commission has responded to the controversy.
It says that differences of opinion, questions and observations between Election Commissioners can happen during the decision-making process.
The ECI has also said that the final decisions were taken with the approval of all three Election Commissioners and that the required legal process was followed.
So, the main issue is not simply that the Election Commissioners disagreed.
The bigger question is about how decisions are made inside the Election Commission, how voter data and voter lists are controlled, and whether the concerns raised by two Election Commissioners need more explanation and transparency
In short, the Indian Express investigation has revealed internal objections within the Election Commission. Opposition leaders, including Uddhav Thackeray, say these objections raise serious questions about the election process The Election Commission, however, says that the final decisions were unanimous and followed the law