New Delhi, September 23, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday defended the Election Commission amid a row over a media report claiming that two Election Commissioners had raised objections on record to several decisions of the poll panel.
Addressing a press conference, BJP MP Sambit Patra said differences of view and deliberations within a multi-member constitutional body were part of the democratic process. The Election Commission has separately said that individual views and observations are a normal part of deliberations and that its final decisions have been unanimous.
Referring to the report, Patra said, “According to media report, there have been official deliberations between the three Election Commissioners, which is a sign of healthy democracy.”
He argued that if the three commissioners did not communicate, exchange views or consult one another, the Opposition would instead question the absence of internal discussion.
“Rather, I would call it as pure democracy where deliberations are taking place,” Patra said.
The BJP leader also criticised Opposition parties over their allegations concerning the functioning of constitutional institutions. He claimed that the Congress and its allies had sought to undermine institutions after facing electoral setbacks. These were Patra’s political assertions and were not independently established in his remarks.
On the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, Patra said the exercise was undertaken following a unanimous decision of the three Election Commissioners.
The Election Commission has maintained that all its decisions, including those related to SIR, had the approval of the full Commission. It said differing views and observations are part of the decision-making process before a final decision is taken.
Responding to Opposition allegations of “vote chori”, Patra referred to reported voter deletions in 20 Assembly constituencies in West Bengal. He said 13 of those seats were won by the Trinamool Congress, one by the Congress and six by the BJP, and questioned how the BJP could have benefited from alleged vote manipulation in constituencies won by other parties.
Patra also pointed out that the BJP-led NDA had won the 2014, 2019 and 2024 Lok Sabha elections before Gyanesh Kumar became Chief Election Commissioner and before the current SIR process was initiated. He cited other Assembly elections won by the BJP and NDA during the same period.
He rejected allegations that the BJP had been winning elections through manipulation of electoral rolls, describing such claims as a “misconception” and calling for what he termed misleading narratives to be countered.
The controversy followed a report alleging that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had recorded objections on several issues, including changes to Form 6, centralisation of electoral-roll controls, voter deletion appeals in West Bengal and the non-addition of some eligible voters in Goa.
The Election Commission, however, has said that highlighting individual internal observations without considering the broader decision-making process presents only part of the picture, reiterating that final decisions taken by the full Commission were unanimous.
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