Pinarayi Vijayan demands CEC removal over voter roll revision concerns

The demand follows reports that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi formally recorded objections at least 14 times over the past 10 months. These internal disputes reportedly involve concerns over voter registration procedures, the deletion of names, and the integrity of the ongoing revision exercise. Vijayan argues that these revelations cast a shadow over the independence of the Election Commission, calling for the restoration of voting rights for those allegedly excluded during the process.

The Election Commission has dismissed claims of institutional breakdown, characterizing the disagreements as standard internal checks within a multi-member constitutional body. Officials maintained that all final decisions, including those regarding the revision, were reached unanimously. Furthermore, the Commission defended its ECINet platform, asserting that the system operates strictly under the Representation of the People Acts of 1950 and 1951, with all procedures managed by authorized officials using secure credentials.