New Delhi: An investigative report recently exposed internal friction within the Election Commission of India (ECI) regarding the nationwide Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

Over a 10-month period, Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi formally recorded 14 written objections against decisions spearheaded by Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. The dissenters flagged unauthorized changes to Form 6 (for voter registrations) without statutory rule amendments and a centralized software takeover that bypassed ground-level Electoral Registration Officers. They also escalated concerns to the Cabinet Secretary regarding IT glitches that inadvertently disenfranchised voters.

Despite these sharp internal disagreements, senior ECI officials and government sources asserted that all final poll body decisions remained unanimous, having been formally signed off by the full commission. Under the Chief Election Commission and Other Election Commissioners Act, 2023, authorities emphasized that the commission aims for consensus, but the majority view legally prevails when divergence occurs.

This rare disclosure triggered significant political fallout, with opposition parties seizing on the internal friction to question the transparency, operational independence, and execution integrity of the extensive voter list revision drive.