Derek O'Brien, a Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha MP, posted a picture of the Election Commission labeled "Ekdum Chor" and wrote "No caption needed" on X on September 26, 2024, condemning the body for its handling of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
The SIR, a 10‑month overhaul of voter data, has seen 14 formal objections filed by Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi, covering voter additions, deletions, name restorations, Form 6 changes, and database access, many of which were allegedly decided without the commissioners’ knowledge.
Opposition leaders, including O'Brien, have called for a Rajya Sabha motion to remove Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, citing that 60 MPs had already backed such a motion five months earlier. The Election Commission, however, dismissed the complaints as routine differences and maintained that all key decisions were unanimous.
The controversy has escalated to the Supreme Court, where a petition seeks action against Kumar for unilateral decisions related to the SIR. The three‑member Election Commission met on September 26 and issued clarifications on Form 6, database access, and the handling of flagged voters.
The Supreme Court is set to hear the petition on October 15, 2024, marking the next decisive step in the dispute over the Election Commission’s conduct during the SIR exercise.