CEC Gyanesh Kumar faces mounting Opposition criticism over electoral-roll revisions as the BJP-led NDA dismisses the campaign as political posturing. (Images: X)
New Delhi: The BJP-led NDA government appears unfazed by the Opposition’s escalating campaign against Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar, with government leaders dismissing the controversy as a political exercise rather than an issue with significant public resonance. The government’s position is that the opposition is struggling to find a strong political issue and is attempting to build a campaign around the Election Commission and the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said the concerns being raised by the Opposition lacked resonance on the ground, while also pointing out that the matter is before the Supreme Court. He maintained that the Election Commission as a constitutional body would present its position before the appropriate forum.
The government and the BJP stepped up their criticism after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi led an extended sit-in protest demanding the resignation of CEC Gyanesh Kumar. BJP leaders, including Ravi Shankar Prasad and Sambit Patra, along with Rijiju, targeted the Congress leadership over the protest and questioned the Opposition’s allegations concerning electoral rolls. BJP has argued that the demand for clean and updated voter lists cannot be portrayed as an attack on democracy or the Constitution. The party has also challenged the Opposition to pursue the constitutional process for removing the CEC if it believes its allegations are substantiated.
A major point of contention is the Opposition’s claim that around 13 crore names were removed from electoral rolls during the SIR exercise. Government sources have offered a different explanation for the deletions. According to figures cited by the government, the exercise identified approximately 2.8 crore deceased voters, 3 crore voters who were unavailable at their registered addresses, 6.3 crore people who had permanently shifted and around 1 crore duplicate entries.
The government has used these figures to argue that the revision was aimed at cleaning electoral rolls rather than disenfranchising genuine voters.
BJP has also drawn parallels with previous controversies involving the Opposition citing issues such as the Rafale fighter jet deal, Pegasus spyware allegations and challenges surrounding the Citizenship Amendment Act. The party argues that several earlier allegations were subjected to judicial scrutiny and failed to produce the political impact anticipated by the Opposition. The government believes the current dispute over the Election Commission could similarly lose momentum if the allegations fail to gain wider public traction.
BJP has further questioned the Opposition’s argument by pointing to electoral outcomes following the SIR exercise. Government sources argue that if millions of genuine voters had actually been removed from electoral rolls, the consequences would have been visible in the form of widespread disruption and electoral unrest. They also point to the fact that different political formations won elections in states following the exercise, arguing that the results do not support the claim of a systematic electoral manipulation. The Opposition, however, continues to press its allegations against the Election Commission and has demanded greater accountability over the electoral-roll revision process.
The political confrontation over the CEC, SIR and voter-list revisions is now unfolding both on the streets and through constitutional and judicial channels.
