New Delhi – Hundreds of Indian Youth Congress workers staged a protest outside the Election Commission office in Delhi on Wednesday demanding action and resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) controversy.
The protest followed a media report that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had recorded objections on at least 14 occasions over the past 10 months concerning electoral rolls and the functioning of the Election Commission. According to the report, the objections related to addition and deletion of voters, changes to Form 6 which is used for new voter registration, and centralisation of electoral-roll systems and control of ERONet portal. The report also claimed the full three-member Commission did not meet for four months between May and August before meeting again on September 9, and cited Section 18 of the CEC and Other Election Commissioners Act, 2023 which says business should be conducted unanimously or by majority view.
In Delhi, IYC office-bearers and workers marched from the organisation’s office towards Nirvachan Sadan but were stopped by Delhi Police barricades. Similar protests were held across the country, with Congress workers burning an effigy of the CEC in Patna. IYC national president Uday Bhanu Chib said the EC is a constitutional institution responsible for safeguarding citizens’ right to vote and that the reported objections raised questions about its functioning.
The Election Commission, responding to the report, said differing views and internal notes among its members are a normal part of decision-making and do not alter the fact that its final decisions have been taken in accordance with law and were unanimous with approval of all three commissioners.
The protest mirrored a larger political offensive. Congress, TMC, SP, CPI(M), AAP and other INDIA bloc leaders demanded CEC’s removal and a Supreme Court-monitored investigation, alleging the Commission was being run as a one-man autocracy and that SIR had led to unauthorised deletions. CPI(M) General Secretary M A Baby said the CEC had been ignoring the majority view, while Congress leader K C Venugopal, West Bengal former Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav termed the reported dissent extremely serious and dangerous for democracy. The INDIA bloc had earlier moved impeachment notices against the CEC in March 2026 signed by 63 Rajya Sabha and 130 Lok Sabha members, which were rejected.
