Mahua Moitra targets CEC Gyanesh Kumar over voter rolls (Img: IANS)
New Delhi: Trinamool Congress (Mamata faction) MP Mahua Moitra on Thursday filed a police complaint against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar at the Parliament Street Police Station. She alleged that the Election Commission had "manipulated the voter rolls."
Speaking to media, Mahua Moitra alleged that Kumar and the Election Commission’s IT system had bypassed local officials responsible for maintaining electoral rolls. Her allegations came a day after The Indian Express reported that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had raised objections on at least 14 occasions over 10 months to decisions and orders linked to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR).
"I have come today to the Parliament Street Police Station to file a complaint against chor Gyanesh Kumar, the Chief Election Commissioner of India, who has indulged in criminal conduct. What is the criminal conduct? The Election Commission is made up of three Election Commissioners to maintain checks and balances. Majority decisions prevail. It has now been proven by the Indian Express investigative report yesterday that two of the three Election Commissioners, namely Mr Joshi and Mr Sandhu, dissented from Mr Gyanesh Kumar's actions on 14 occasions in the last 10 months, and sometimes as many as four times in a single day," Mahua said.
She also alleged that centralised control of the Election Commission’s IT software was used to bypass officials working at the constituency and booth levels.
"Very important things, such as the centralisation of the IT software, were left entirely in the hands of DG IT Seema Khanna, who was using this software to bypass local, on-ground officials. What is the rule? The rule is that in every Assembly constituency and at every booth, the local official, the ERO and the BLO, are in charge of the voter roll. What we find is that Seema Khanna and Gyanesh Kumar, by using the ECI software illegally and criminally, manipulated the voter rolls, bypassed these local officials and did not give them access to the system," she added.
Gyanesh Chor Kumar is rogue agent who acted without consent of other 2 ECs. Disenfranchising genuine voters is not official duties. He cannot enjoy immunity. He needs to be prosecuted. Simple. pic.twitter.com/YKFp8OgV5h
— Mahua Moitra (@MahuaMoitra) September 24, 2026
Moitra further alleged that the Election Commission had changed Form 6, which is used for the enrolment of new voters, without following the prescribed procedure.
"Secondly, in terms of Form 6, Form 6 allows a person to register as a new voter. How does a new voter get enrolled by filling out Form 6? What Gyanesh Kumar did illegally was insert a new question into Form 6, which is: Are you or any of your parents or grandparents linked to the SIR, yes or no? Mr Sandhu and Mr Joshi dissented and said that only by amending the rules could you do this; you cannot simply add a question," she said.
She also claimed that the changes had prevented large numbers of new voters from being enrolled.
"Nobody could answer. The CEO of West Bengal could not answer, and the Chief Election Commissioner could not answer, and lakhs and crores of new voters were left out. Today, all over India, 13 crore voters have been deleted. What will happen to their children? What will happen to their children when they turn 18? They cannot get on the rolls either. So this is criminal conduct, and they cannot hide behind Section 16 of the CEC and EC Act of 2023," she added.
After filing the FIR, Moitra posted on X along with a copy of the complaint.
"Gyanesh Chor Kumar is rogue agent who acted without consent of other 2 ECs. Disenfranchising genuine voters is not official duties. He cannot enjoy immunity. He needs to be prosecuted. Simple," she wrote.
Gyanesh Chor Kumar is a rogue agent who acted without consent of other 2 ECs. Disenfranchising genuine voters is not official duties. He cannot enjoy immunity. He needs to be prosecuted. Simple pic.twitter.com/CY8rES46Ki
— Mahua Moitra (@MahuaMoitra) September 24, 2026
According to the media report, Sandhu and Joshi had objected to changes made to Form 6, recording that the statutory form could not be altered without amending the relevant rules. Sandhu later described the changes as “unauthorised and illegal” and called for their immediate removal.
The Election Commission, however, has maintained that written notes, observations and internal checks are part of normal institutional deliberations. It has also said that its official orders and decisions have full legal sanction and that final decisions, including those concerning the SIR, were taken unanimously.
The reported differences involve voter registration and deletion, changes to Form 6 and centralised control of the electoral-roll database. The report also said the two commissioners had raised concerns over access to the database by statutory officials.
The reported differences have led to fresh demands from Opposition parties for action against Kumar. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi accused the BJP, RSS and the Election Commission of committing an act of “treason” in connection with what he described as “vote chori”.
"Vote chori is a crime against the Indian people and a direct attack on our Constitution," Rahul said. "The BJP, RSS and EC who organised it have committed an act of treason. Justice will be served."
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee also alleged that the BJP and the Election Commission had “looted” the West Bengal Assembly polls and called for fresh elections in the state using the voter list that existed before the SIR.
BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra, meanwhile, defended the Election Commission, saying differences and exchanges between commissioners reflected “pure democracy” and formed part of institutional deliberations.
