In one of the objections, Sandhu recorded that officers did not have ‘proper and complete access’ to the electoral-roll portal and questioned the legal authority of the director-general of IT to restrict their access. The two commissioners also objected to a 28 July work-allocation order concerning the IT and ICT divisions.
Ramesh alleged that the developments pointed to an attempt by chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and the government to centralise control over the electoral-roll system.
‘It appears that Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and the prime minister himself have kept the particular officer in place to retain their centralised control over the entire system. The ‘Vote Chori’ operation is becoming clearer by the day,’ he alleged.
The Congress has been demanding Kumar’s removal and has repeatedly questioned the functioning of the ECI under his leadership. The Election Commission, however, has rejected the broader allegations. In its response to the Indian Express investigation, it said differing views and observations were a normal part of institutional decision-making and maintained that decisions taken over the previous year had the unanimous approval of the full Commission. It also said its digital platforms operated under strict data-security protocols and that EROs and district election officers continued to exercise their statutory powers.
However, the Commission subsequently ordered a review of ECINet and announced measures aimed at addressing concerns raised over access and the handling of electoral-roll discrepancies. At a meeting on 26 September, it said electors flagged for certain ‘logical discrepancies’ or as ‘unmapped’ would not necessarily have to appear in person for hearings.
The dispute over ECINet comes against the backdrop of the nationwide SIR exercise, which has become a major political flashpoint, with Opposition parties alleging that the process could result in the exclusion of eligible voters. The ECI has maintained that the exercise is being conducted under established statutory procedures.
With PTI inputs
