Congress demands Chief Election Commissioner quit over voter roll dispute

UPDATE - follow-up to India News Live Updates 5 October 2026: Delhi Police busts heroin network, 4 held; Rs 50 crore drugs seized: Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh urged Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar to step down immediately on Monday, labeling him a national liability and claiming he carried out unlawful directives from top leadership.

Reactions and Legal Challenges

Ramesh grounded his demand in recent warnings from Supreme Court Justice Ujjal Bhuyan, who stated that any administrative process stripping millions of their voting rights would be arbitrary and unconstitutional. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court has scheduled hearings for two separate petitions contesting the Chief Election Commissioner's operational methods, including claims of unilateral decision-making inside the Election Commission alongside requests for an independent judicial inquiry and an order to halt the nationwide voter list revision.

Official Stance

The Election Commission has stood firm against the criticism, asserting that internal disagreements form a standard part of institutional governance and that its formal directives hold complete legal validity. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath also backed the voter list revision, describing it as vital for national security and the removal of duplicate, dead, or relocated entries from official rolls.

Context

The Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls has triggered intense political friction between opposition parties and election authorities over allegations of mass voter deletion. Such nationwide list revisions are periodically undertaken to keep voter databases accurate, though disputes frequently arise when parties disagree on the criteria and verification speed.