24/09/2026
The general secretaries of CPIML, CPI and CPIM addressed a press conference in Delhi demanding removal of Gyanesh Kumar from office. Joint press statement:
Communist Party of India (Marxist)
Communist Party of India
Communist Party of India (ML)-Liberation
September 24, 2026
CEC Must be Sacked
Halt SIR, Restore Voting Rights of Wrongfully Excluded
Restore Credibility of ECI
The September 23 reports in the Indian Express on the issues flagged by two of the three Election Commissioners raise certain fundamental questions about the manner in which the Election Commission has been functioning under the incumbent Chief Election Commissioner, Gyanesh Kumar.
These are not limited to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls alone. They raise grave concerns also about the functioning and integrity of the Election Commission of India. They are an indictment of the office of the CEC, which stands compromised.
Two of the three Election Commissioners have, on at least 14 occasions, recorded objections to decisions concerning voter registration, deletion and restoration of names, and the conduct of SIR. They have also raised serious concerns about decisions being taken without their consent.
The disclosures confirm concerns repeatedly raised by opposition parties and civil society organisations and expose the hollowness of claims that the SIR and electoral-roll management are transparent and decentralised. The two Commissioners have specifically flagged the gradual centralisation of the voter database and restrictions on the access of statutory officials at the state and constituency levels. The consequences are not merely administrative. In Goa, for instance, software restrictions reportedly prevented Electoral Registration Officers from recording their decisions finding 97 voters eligible.
The issue, therefore, goes far beyond SIR. It concerns the transparency and democratic functioning of the ECI and the protection of the fundamental democratic principle of universal adult franchise. Any system that makes the right to vote dependent on opaque, centrally controlled processes undermines public confidence in the electoral system.
Never before has the credibility and independence of the ECI been so low. CEC Gyanesh Kumar must be held accountable for manipulating the system and eroding people’s confidence in the institution.
The Communist parties therefore demand:
Gyanesh Kumar must be removed from office.
Halt the SIR process. Restore the voting rights of all those who have been wrongfully excluded from the electoral rolls.
Restore the independent and democratic functioning of the ECI.
Replace the present system of appointment of Election Commissioners with a mechanism based on the Supreme Court’s proposed selection committee of the Prime Minister, Leader of the Opposition and Chief Justice of India.
The Communist parties call upon their units throughout the country to organise week long protest from 26th September to 2nd October, where 26th September is the birth anniversary of Shaheed-e-Azam Bhagat Singh and 2nd October is the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, both of whom consistently fought for democracy and secularism.
We appeal to all non-BJP, secular, democratic opposition parties, civil society organisations and concerned citizens to join the movement.
M A Baby, General Secretary, CPM
D Raja, General Secretary, CPI
Dipankar Bhattacharya, General Secretary, CPI(ML)-Liberation
