Ajay Rai, who lost to Prime Minister Narendra Modi by 152,513 votes, accused CEC Gyanesh Kumar of orchestrating a statewide fraud that ensured the BJP’s victory. He demanded Kumar’s arrest and a re‑election, citing a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) row that allegedly ignored 14 objections raised by senior election officials.
Kumar, a 1988‑batch IAS officer from Kerala, was appointed Chief Election Commissioner on February 19, 2025, after a March 15, 2024 retirement. In the ten months before his appointment, the Election Commission recorded 14 instances where SIR‑related orders were contested but ultimately upheld, a fact that Rai claims undermines the integrity of the electoral roll.
The protest echoes broader opposition complaints about the 2023 Amendment to the Chief Election Commissioner Act, which replaced the Chief Justice of India with a Union Cabinet minister on the selection committee. Congress leaders, including MLA Aradhana Mishra and spokesperson Abhay Dubey, argue that the change contravenes the Supreme Court’s 2023 verdict that upheld the inclusion of the Chief Justice.
BJP‑led Election Commission officials dismissed the allegations as politically motivated, asserting that all statutory procedures were followed and that the SIR exercise remains a normal part of institutional deliberation.
The next step hinges on the judiciary: a potential court hearing could order a comprehensive audit of the Varanasi vote count, setting a precedent for electoral disputes in the run‑up to the next general elections.