India's Election Commission (ECI), long regarded as one of the country's most trusted public institutions, is facing a serious challenge to its credibility after reports emerged that two of its three commissioners had formally raised objections to the conduct of their chief — at least 14 times over the past 10 months. The row centres on Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar, whose colleagues Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi reportedly alleged that key decisions were being made in the name of the full commission without their knowledge, with some described as "unauthorised and illegal". In one instance, the two commissioners reportedly wrote directly to the chief secretary, the most senior bureaucrat in the Indian government.

The revelations follow reporting by the Indian Express and come at a particularly sensitive moment: the ECI is currently conducting a nationwide Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls — the database of registered voters. The commission says the revision is necessary to remove ineligible entries, noting the last comparable exercise was carried out nearly a quarter of a century ago. But the process has proved deeply contentious. Around 130 million names have been struck from the rolls, and millions of citizens have complained that their names are missing, arguing that the new registration requirements demand documents many voters do not possess.

Opposition parties have seized on both the SIR controversy and the internal dissent to escalate their long-running criticism of the commission. Rahul Gandhi, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha — India's lower house of parliament — accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, and CEC Kumar of acting as "deshdrohis" (traitors) by allegedly undermining voters' rights. Mamata Banerjee, leader of the All India Trinamool Congress, a regional party based in West Bengal, called for Kumar's arrest and demanded fresh elections in the state using the pre-SIR voters' list, arguing that 2.7 million removed voters had cost her party the recent elections there. Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav also demanded the CEC's resignation, while the opposition INDIA bloc said it would move a fresh removal notice in both houses of parliament, building on two previous attempts — one dismissed in April and another still pending in the Rajya Sabha, India's upper house.

The ECI responded by defending its processes, stating that "differing views and observations are a normal part of deliberation in any institution" and that the 40-plus initiatives introduced over the past year represent unanimous decisions of the full commission. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the governing party nationally, dismissed the criticism as a "smear campaign", with a party spokesperson arguing that opposition parties were attempting to undermine institutions because they could not win elections. Neither Sandhu nor Joshi has publicly commented on the reports.

The controversy matters beyond the immediate political battle. India's Election Commission has historically been seen as a pillar of its democracy — administering elections for a population of 1.4 billion people across a vast and diverse country. Former Chief Election Commissioner SY Quraishi acknowledged he had been critical of the SIR from the outset but said the internal dissent now revealed showed that the two commissioners had been "very silently and quietly protesting", which he called commendable. Analysts say the commission's statement has not resolved the core questions about how decisions were made, and pressure is likely to mount unless the CEC addresses the allegations directly. The Cockroach Janta Party, a youth-led civic movement that recently forced the resignation of a government minister, has also announced protests, signalling that public pressure may extend well beyond the formal political opposition.