Who Are Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi, and What Were Their 14 Objections to CEC Gyanesh Kumar?

An investigation has revealed significant internal friction within the three-member Election Commission of India (ECI), with Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi formally objecting on record at least 14 times over 10 months to decisions taken under Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar. The objections directly challenge executive decisions taken during the nationwide rollout of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, an exercise that began in Bihar in June 2025 and has resulted in the deletion of more than 13 crore names across 30 States and Union Territories.

According to findings published by The Indian Express, the internal dissent touches upon core constitutional responsibilities: voter registration rules, the deletion and restoration of names, legal appeals against voter restoration, and administrative control over the digital infrastructure housing the electoral roll database. The records reveal that four separate objections were lodged on a single day, with Sandhu describing certain actions taken by the commission as “unauthorised and illegal” after decisions bypassed the written advice of the two commissioners. What Did Election Commission Say on Report Claiming ‘Dissent’ by 2 Commissioners?

Who Are Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi?

Both commissioners are veteran civil servants appointed to the constitutional body under the Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners Act, 2023.

• Sukhbir Singh Sandhu: A 1988-batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of the Uttarakhand cadre, Sandhu was appointed as an Election Commissioner in March 2024. A medical doctor by qualification who also holds a master's degree in History, he previously served as Chief Secretary of Uttarakhand from 2021 to 2024, Chairman of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), and Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Education.

• Vivek Joshi: A 1989-batch IAS officer of the Haryana cadre, Joshi was appointed to the commission in February 2025. A mechanical engineering graduate from IIT Roorkee with a doctorate in International Economics from the Graduate Institute in Geneva, Joshi's career includes stints as Chief Secretary of Haryana, Secretary in the Department of Financial Services, Secretary in the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), and Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India.

Both officers were appointed by a three-member panel comprising the Prime Minister, Union Home Minister, and the Leader of the Opposition. At each appointment, Opposition members, first Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury in March 2024 and later Rahul Gandhi in February 2025, lodged formal dissents regarding the selection mechanism. SIR Controversy: Gyanesh Kumar Faces Fresh Scrutiny as Opposition Cites 14 Objections by 2 Election Commissioners.

What Were the 14 Objections Raised to the CEC?

The written objections between November 2025 and August 2026 centered on key operational and statutory issues:

• Unauthorised Changes to Form 6: In May 2026, Joshi objected on file to proposed modifications in Form 6 (the statutory application for new voter registration). The change introduced mandatory fields querying applicants on whether their ancestors featured in previous SIR rolls. Joshi noted that altering a statutory form without formal amendments to the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, was legally impermissible. Sandhu supported the view and later demanded on August 13 that the “unauthorised/illegal changes in Form-6 on the portal” be removed immediately to avoid harassing first-time voters.

• Centralisation of Electoral Roll Software: Both commissioners flagged the progressive centralisation of ERONet, the IT backbone of voter lists. They noted that statutory ground-level Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) were seeing their system authority diluted or overridden by software controls managed centrally in New Delhi.

• Disenfranchisement and Appeals: The objections also covered administrative actions surrounding the deletion of voters in West Bengal, where appeals had been lodged seeking mass deletions after judicial scrutiny had restored names, and technical glitches in Goa that blocked 97 court-approved voters from being added to rolls.

• Letters to the Cabinet Secretary: In an unprecedented development, Sandhu and Joshi wrote separately to Cabinet Secretary T.V. Somanathan over internal shifts in work allocation that removed layers of administrative oversight from the Commission's IT division. Both commissioners maintained the orders were issued without their knowledge and struck them down.

Commission Rebuts Rift Claims, Cites Unanimous Mandate

Following the disclosures, the Election Commission sought to downplay reports of institutional turmoil. In an official statement, the poll body maintained that all administrative decisions taken over the preceding year, including the conduct of the SIR across 30 States and UTs, were unanimous outcomes of the full commission.

The ECI noted that differing viewpoints and recorded observations form a standard part of multi-member deliberations prior to arriving at policy consensus, emphasizing that selective internal notes do not reflect the comprehensive body of electoral reforms implemented by the panel.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 23, 2026 06:22 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).