ECI issues statement amid reports of rift between commissioners
What's the story
Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar, along with Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi, held a meeting at Nirvachan Sadan in New Delhi on Saturday. This comes after reports claimed that Sandhu and Joshi had repeatedly objected to decisions regarding the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. The Election Commission of India (ECI) later released a statement addressing these concerns.
Official statement
ECI's press note addressed 3 key issues
The ECI's press note, released on September 26, addressed three key issues: new voter enrollment, extension of SIR dates, and the issues raised in the report of The Indian Express of September 23.
The note included a photograph of all three members together.
It also clarified the commission's internal functioning and responded to a letter from Sandhu and Joshi to the Cabinet Secretary.
Internal discord
Note comes after reports of internal disagreements
The press note comes after reports of internal disagreements within the ECI over the SIR process.
Sandhu and Joshi had reportedly raised objections to several decisions related to this process.
The ECI has been under scrutiny for its handling of the SIR process. The press note is an attempt to clarify its position.
It also seeks to address the SIR, the commission's internal functioning, and the letter by Sandhu and Joshi to the Cabinet Secretary.
Details
Decisions taken during meeting
The press note detailed four points with various sub-points pointing to decision-making in light of the SIR exercise.
However, noteworthy was the second sub-point of the third point, which read: "The order for the SIR issued on 24.6.2025 for all the States/UTs, starting with Bihar, followed by West Bengal and 30 other States/UTs was issued with the unanimous approval of the Commission."
Twitter Post
Complete press note
A press note from the Election Commission of India (@ECISVEEP) reads:
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) September 26, 2026
The meeting of the Commission was held today i.e. 26.09.2026 at 3:00 PM. The following decisions were taken in the meeting:
i. In case of any person to whom notice has been issued during the ongoing SIR, for… pic.twitter.com/4Axd8wEOVM