An Indian Express report says India’s election chief Gyanesh Kumar overruled colleagues on voter-roll changes, amid a revision that has removed more than 13 million names since June last year. Critics say poorer and marginalised groups have been disproportionately affected.
The Indian Express based its reports on internal documents and interviews. Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi formally objected at least 14 times over 10 months to decisions on registration, deletions and restorations, appeals and voter-list security. In one reported case, nearly 100 voters were mistakenly removed in Goa; the state’s chief electoral officer sent eight emails to New Delhi but received no reply before the deadline.
The commission said the newspaper’s account reflected differing views and deliberations, not official statements of protest; it has described voter-list access as secure and decentralised. The reports said the ECINet platform, which logs nearly a billion voters, had become increasingly centralised, with more editing control in New Delhi. Opposition parties allege the revisions disenfranchise voters to benefit Modi’s BJP; the BJP and supporters say the drive targets illegal migrants, deceased or fraudulent voters. The article notes there is no firm evidence of widespread voter manipulation benefiting Modi in 2019 or 2024.
