Election Commission Defends Postponement of Gyanesh Kumar's UP Events

The Election Commission on Friday described the postponement of two Electoral Literacy Club (ELC) conferences in Uttar Pradesh as a routine scheduling matter, saying adjustments to official event dates are an ongoing process driven by logistical and administrative considerations.

Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar had been scheduled to address the conferences in Meerut on Thursday and in Varanasi on September 28. The poll body said the decision to defer the two events was taken on September 21.

The Commission cited venue availability, the schedules of senior authorities and natural conditions among the factors behind the change. It also noted that ELC conferences have been postponed or rescheduled on earlier occasions, including in Himachal Pradesh, Ladakh and Uttarakhand.

The clarification followed a report claiming that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi raised objections at least 14 times over ten months, between October 2025 and August 2026, to decisions and orders linked to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process, many of which they said were taken without their knowledge.

The Commission said internal technical notes and written queries are standard practice within a multi-member body, and asserted that all final decisions on the SIR process were taken unanimously and carry full legal sanction.

The postponements come as the poll body conducts ELC 2.0 events in phases as part of its voter-awareness efforts ahead of the 2027 state elections. The initiative, which carries the tagline "Learn Democracy. Lead Democracy", is designed to familiarise students and first-time voters with the electoral process, democratic values and the working of election-related institutions.

On Thursday, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi alleged at a press conference that votes were being stolen, argued that laws framed by MPs are rendered illegal as a result, described Gyanesh Kumar as a traitor, demanded his resignation and warned that the Congress would not stay silent while democracy in India is "being destroyed".