Spotlight
oi-Oneindia Staff
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) National Convenor Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday launched a strong attack on the Election Commission and Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, alleging serious irregularities in the handling of electoral rolls and the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process.
Arvind Kejriwal alleged Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar mismanaged electoral rolls and the SIR process, citing internal objections from fellow commissioners, and accused PM Modi and Amit Shah of “vote theft,” demanding Kumar’s arrest and cancellation of elections in several states.
Kejriwal’s remarks came after a report by The Indian Express claimed that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had raised objections multiple times over decisions and orders that they said were issued without their knowledge or approval of the three-member Election Commission.
Calling the allegations a major threat to the electoral process, Kejriwal accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah of winning elections through what he described as “vote-chori”. He alleged that Gyanesh Kumar was the “mastermind” behind the process and demanded his arrest and prosecution.
“People in this country had so far only heard that Narendra Modi and Amit Shah were winning one election after another by ‘vote-chori’ (vote theft). Today, a story published by The Indian Express has established that they are actually stealing votes and winning elections through a massive vote scam,” Kejriwal said.
“The mastermind behind this ‘vote-chori’, on behalf of PM Narendra Modi and Amit Shah, is CEC Gyanesh Kumar. Through this press conference, we demand that Gyanesh Kumar be arrested and prosecuted. We also demand that all elections held in Delhi, Maharashtra, Bihar, West Bengal and Haryana over the past few years be cancelled and conducted afresh,” he said.
Kejriwal also questioned the functioning of the three-member Election Commission. He said the Chief Election Commissioner was only the “first among equals” and could not independently take decisions on behalf of the entire poll panel.
“The Supreme Court has ruled that the Election Commission does not mean one individual leads it. The Election Commission means three people. There is one Chief Election Commissioner and two Election Commissioners. All three meet together, and decisions are taken either unanimously or by majority,” he said.
He further alleged that Kumar had been running the Election Commission single-handedly and claimed that both Election Commissioners had repeatedly raised objections over orders being issued without approval from the full Commission.
“Today’s story in The Indian Express says that Gyanesh Kumar has been leading the Election Commission single-handedly for the past few years. Both Election Commissioners have repeatedly submitted written complaints that officials and officers below them are being issued orders without the approval of the Election Commission,” Kejriwal said.
Referring to communications allegedly written by Sandhu and Joshi, Kejriwal said the Election Commissioners had questioned the issuance of official orders and communications without the approval of the full Commission.
He cited a letter allegedly written by Sandhu on October 28, 2025, as well as another communication dated April 16, 2026. He also referred to a letter allegedly written by Joshi on April 24, saying these communications raised questions about the manner in which decisions were being taken.
Kejriwal also targeted the SIR exercise, alleging that it was being implemented without proper approval from the full Election Commission. He claimed that more than 13 crore names had been affected across 30 states and Union Territories and demanded that the entire process be cancelled.
“The entire SIR process should be cancelled,” Kejriwal said, while demanding that changes made to electoral rolls during the past two to three years be reversed and that the voter list from three years ago be restored.
He also raised concerns over the role of Electoral Registration Officers (EROs), alleging that powers traditionally exercised at the local level had been centralised at the Election Commission’s headquarters in Delhi.
“The same Indian Express story says that under the Constitution and the law, the Sub-Divisional Magistrate of every area has the authority to add new voters and delete incorrect or ineligible entries. This officer is called the Electoral Registration Officer, or ERO,” he said.
Kejriwal alleged that access available to EROs had been restricted while officials at the Election Commission headquarters had access to voter databases from across the country.
“The power given under the Constitution to the ERO has been taken away, while people sitting inside the Election Commission building have been given the authority to delete or add anyone’s vote anywhere in the country. There cannot be a bigger scam in this country than this,” he said.
The AAP leader also questioned changes to the process of registering new voters through Form 6. He claimed that the changes were illegal and unconstitutional and demanded that votes created through the disputed process be rejected.
Kejriwal reiterated his demands for cancellation of the SIR process, restoration of the voter list from three years ago and action against Gyanesh Kumar. He also demanded that elections held in Delhi, Bihar, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh in recent years be cancelled and fresh elections conducted.
“I believe this is the biggest scandal in independent India and something that shakes the very foundations of our country,” Kejriwal said.
The Election Commission, however, has rejected the suggestion that the reported differences between the commissioners represented a breakdown in the functioning of the poll panel. It has said that written observations and differing views can form part of internal deliberations, while maintaining that final decisions, including those related to SIR, were taken unanimously by the full Commission.
