Two Election Commissioners Question Roll Changes and Centralised Control

Two Election Commissioners have raised concerns about the functioning of the Election Commission, questioning changes to electoral rolls, the centralisation of control and the way decisions are taken within the poll panel.

The two commissioners, Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi, were both appointed to their posts by the government under a law brought in during 2023.

Their objections touch on three broad areas: revisions to the voters' list, the concentration of authority in the commission, and the process by which the body arrives at its decisions.

The concerns amount to a rare instance of internal dissent within the Election Commission, an institution responsible for conducting elections and maintaining the electoral roll.

Both commissioners owe their positions to the 2023 appointment framework, which governs how members of the poll panel are selected. The questions they have raised relate to how that framework and the commission's internal practices are playing out in practice.

There was no immediate indication of how the commission or the government intends to respond to the objections.