The Indian Express released a 14‑page dossier on Wednesday, detailing that Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had lodged formal objections against several SIR‑related decisions over the past ten months, covering the addition, deletion and restoration of voters.
Rahul Gandhi, speaking on the Lok Sabha floor, slammed the exercise as ‘vote chori’ and demanded that CEC Gyanesh Kumar be removed, while Mamata Banerjee called for fresh elections in West Bengal using pre‑SIR rolls and threatened a statewide protest.
The Election Commission, in a statement issued the same day, insisted that all decisions were made unanimously and that the objections were part of routine deliberation, noting that the final orders carried signatures from all three members.
BJP MP Sambit Patra defended the commission, describing the 14 exchanges as a sign of healthy democratic functioning, arguing that dissent is a hallmark of a vibrant decision‑making process.
The government has scheduled a cabinet meeting for June 5 to decide whether to retain the commissioners, while a Delhi resident, Rajesh, worries that the SIR controversy may delay the upcoming municipal polls.