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Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha MP Derek O’Brien has taken a swipe at the Election Commission amid the growing controversy surrounding Chief Election Commissioner
Gyanesh Kumar and the poll panel’s handling of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. In a post on X, O’Brien wrote, 'No caption needed' as he shared a picture that said 'Ekdum Chor (EC)', taking aim at the Election Commission as Opposition parties intensify their attacks on the poll body. The latest jibe comes days after a report revealed that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had raised formal objections on at least 14 occasions over a 10-month period on issues linked to the functioning of the poll panel and the SIR exercise.
According to The Indian Express report, the objections covered matters including voter additions and deletions, restoration of names, changes to Form 6 and access to electoral-roll databases.
The report said some decisions were allegedly taken without the knowledge of the two Election Commissioners. The objections were also copied to CEC Gyanesh Kumar.
The revelations triggered a fresh political storm, with Opposition leaders questioning the functioning and independence of the Election Commission. O’Brien had earlier called for bringing back a Rajya Sabha motion seeking Kumar’s removal, saying 60 MPs had supported such a motion five months ago.
The Election Commission, however, has rejected the suggestion that the reported objections amounted to a breakdown in decision-making. The poll panel said differences of opinion and observations were "standard practice" and maintained that key decisions taken by the Commission were unanimous.
The controversy has also moved into the courts. A petition filed in the Supreme Court has sought action against Kumar over alleged unilateral decisions connected with the SIR, citing the reported objections by Sandhu and Joshi.
The SIR itself has been under intense political and legal scrutiny, particularly over the large-scale revision of electoral rolls and concerns raised over deletion, restoration and verification of voter names.
Meanwhile, the full three-member Election Commission met on September 26 and issued clarifications on several issues raised by the two commissioners, including Form 6, access to electoral databases and the handling of voters flagged for discrepancies.
