𝗘𝗖𝗜 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗰𝗹𝗮𝘀𝗵 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗜𝗧 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁
One of point raised in the
@IndianExpress was Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi writing "a letter to the Cabinet Secretary, which is completely unprecedented."
Yesterday in the ECI press note
The ECI’s official clarification stated:
“The letter to Cabinet Secretary was not related to any policy matter of the Commission or IT division but related to working of an officer on deputation to ECI.”
𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗾𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲 𝗮𝗱𝗱𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗲𝗱
▪️Who is that "officer" ??
▪️What was that "working" of an officer ??
▪️Irrespective of how much clarification Press Release might do...Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi after directly showing their displeasure of this " officer "...why it was not solved or rectified among Election Commissioner themselves ??
▪️ Why it had to be taken to the Cabinet Secretary ??
▪️Was Gyanesh Kumar Gupta acting as an power in himself ??
◾𝗨𝗻𝗶𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲
The two commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi decided that Sanjay Kumar, an IAS officer, would oversee the IT division. Kumar was the one writing to the IT head demanding that the software comply with the law and not restrict local officers.
But on 28 July, Kumar went on leave and Senior Deputy Election Commissioner Maneesh Garg was given temporary charge of the administration just to cover the gap. But almost immediately, Garg changed the work allocations. He removed Sanjay Kumar from overseeing the IT division and Garg unilaterally cut off the commissioner's oversight chain to the digital back end. A temporary administrator steps in and immediately locks the constitutional bosses out of their own IT department.
◾𝗘𝘀𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘁 𝗦𝗲𝗰𝗿𝗲𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘆
On 29 July, Sandhu and Joshi wrote separately to the cabinet secretary, TV Somanathan, India's top bureaucrat. They reported Garg's order. They called it a clear violation of the law and they demanded appropriate action.
◾𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗷𝗼𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗹𝘆 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗼𝗿𝗱𝗲𝗿
Then, on 30th July, the two commissioners escalated even further. They jointly issued an order setting the temporary change aside, calling it without reason or justification and legally mandating that Sanjay Kumar, who had been removed, should remain in place until a full consensus was reached.
All of this internal bureaucratic warfare, this fighting over who controls the code, it finally forced a full meeting of all three commissioners, including Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar on the 9th of September.
And this was their first full meeting in four months. Four months...the people legally responsible for running the electoral machinery for over a billion people did not have a full meeting for four months.
◾𝗠𝗔𝗡𝗘𝗘𝗦𝗛 𝗚𝗔𝗥𝗚
▪️It was Maneesh Garg, then Senior Deputy Election Commissioner and holding additional administrative charge, changed the allocation of responsibilities without consulting the Commission, including removing Deputy Election Commissioner Sanjay Kumar from oversight of the DG (IT).
▪️Sanjay Kumar was the DEC responsible for overseeing the IT division and routing its files to the three-member Commission. Maneesh Garg's order changed that arrangement and removed Sanjay Kumar from the oversight of DG(IT).
▪️IT and PGRS responsibilities were moved from DEC Sanjay Kumar directly to DG(IT) Seema Khanna, thereby removing the DEC-level reporting layer.
◾Maneesh Garg appointment as Deputy Election Commissioner came through the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC).
▪️The ACC subsequently approved continuation of Garg's post at the upgraded Additional Secretary level until September 1, 2027
▪️As of 27 September 2026, there is no indication that Garg has been removed, repatriated, suspended or transferred out of the ECI.