‘ECI must respond’: Chirag Paswan on CEC Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation demand amid row

Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar should “firmly respond” to the Opposition’s allegations to ensure people do not lose trust in the electoral process, Union minister Chirag Paswan has said.BJP ally Chirag Paswan reacted to Rahul Gandhi’s demand for CEC Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation amid ECI row. (ANI/HT photo)The Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) chief on Friday responded to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s demand for Kumar’s resignation amid a growing row over the functioning of the Election Commission (ECI) and reported differences between the three Election Commissioners.“If such questions are being raised against the Election Commission, I believe it is also the responsibility of the Election Commission, especially the CEC, to firmly present its side,” the BJP-led NDA minister told reporters. “I don't care what the opposition says because it is their job is to do politics,” he added.The poll panel must ensure that doubts about the electoral process did not take root among voters, Paswan said.“The Election Commission must maintain the trust of the people because if doubts arise in the public's mind about the electoral process itself, that would be wrong. In such a situation, the Election Commission should firmly put forth its points so that no doubts arise in the people's minds.”The ECI controversyThe comments follow an investigative report by The Indian Express which claimed that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi raised objections over the past 10 months to decisions taken by Gyanesh Kumar without their knowledge.ALSO READ | ECI postpones CEC Gyanesh Kumar’s 2 outreach events in UP, says no link to rowThe reported disagreements related to issues including voter registration and deletion, access to electoral-roll databases, changes to Form 6 and the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.The two commissioners had, in some instances, questioned whether certain decisions had been taken without their knowledge and described some actions as “unauthorised” and “illegal”, according to the report.The ECI has said that the reported differences in deliberations are part of institutional decision-making and maintained that its decisions were taken “unanimously.” The poll body also defended its digital systems, saying they operated under security protocols to prevent unauthorised manipulation of electoral data.Rahul Gandhi demands Gyanesh Kumar's resignationLok Sabha Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday demanded Kumar's immediate resignation. He said the country's elections were “fundamentally broken” and that the controversy raised questions about the functioning of the electoral system.ALSO READ | CJP's nationwide protest from Oct 2 if CEC Gyanesh Kumar doesn't resign: Abhijeet DipkeHe also accused the CEC of undermining the constitutional and legal framework governing elections and asked Kumar to “turn approver”. Gandhi said the two Election Commissioners who raised objections had “come clean” and asked Kumar to consider cooperating with the allegations being raised against him.“I want to tell Gyanesh Kumar, you are a highly educated person: the thing that you have done is an act against India. This is an attack against legal structure and Constitution. We are not going to let democracy be destroyed,” Gandhi said.“The two ECs have done a wise thing. They have come clean. Gyanesh Kumar should think seriously and he should turn approver. That would be an act of nationalism,” he added.Gandhi also questioned why the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi continued to win elections despite the normal “political effect of anti-incumbency”. He said that the absence of anti-incumbency against the BJP raised questions about the electoral process.ALSO READ | Rahul Gandhi calls for Gyanesh Kumar's ouster, repeats 'vote chori' claim amid EC row: 'Elections being rigged'He also alleged that Modi, Union home minister Amit Shah, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, industrialist Gautam Adani, National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and PM’s principal secretary PK Mishra were involved in a conspiracy to manipulate elections.Gandhi also referred to his earlier opposition to Kumar's appointment as CEC, arguing that the process of selecting election commissioners must be independent of executive influence.‘Vote chori’ allegationsThe latest confrontation comes amid Rahul Gandhi’s long-running allegations against the ECI over electoral rolls.In 2025, Gandhi accused the poll panel of “vote chori” and alleged that voters were being deleted or bogus voters added in different constituencies. In September 2025, he specifically cited Aland in Karnataka and Rajura in Maharashtra, alleging that Congress voters were targeted in Aland and that thousands of voters were fraudulently added in Rajura.The ECI rejected the allegations as “incorrect and baseless”. It said voter deletions could not simply be carried out online by members of the public and that the law required affected voters to be given an opportunity to be heard. The Commission also said it itself initiated an FIR in connection with the Aland matter in 2023.ALSO READ | 'No anti-incumbency for BJP, Modi': Rahul Gandhi intensifies attack on CEC Gyanesh Kumar amid rowIn August 2025, Gyanesh Kumar asked Rahul Gandhi to either substantiate his allegations of voter fraud through a sworn affidavit within seven days or apologise.BJP's response to Rahul GandhiThe BJP has now rejected Gandhi’s allegations and defended the ECI’s decision-making process.BJP spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi said the decisions of the three-member Commission were taken unanimously and questioned the basis of reports about differences within the poll panel.“Rahul Gandhi said that anti-incumbency is an established truth of this country and it happened after the BJP came to power. I think that, politically speaking, Rahul Gandhi is devoid of wisdom and devoid of knowledge. He doesn't even know the political history of the country,” Trivedi said.Party national spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari calling his press conference a “damp squib” and “Jhoot Ki Goonj”. On X, Bhandari rejected Gandhi’s remarks on the absence of anti-incumbency against the BJP and said the party lost 20 elections since 2014.“Did Congress under Nehru did ‘Vote Chori’, or does Congress win in Rae Bareilly 16 times in consectutive,” he wrote. “'Loktantra ki chor Congress' is frustrated as the Gandhi-Vadra family is democratically made to sit in Opposition by the people of India."Gaurav Gogoi detained over protestsAssam Congress president Gaurav Gogoi was detained by police on Friday during a protest demanding Gyanesh Kumar's resignation. Gogoi alleged irregularities in the Election Commission’s functioning and demanded legal action against Kumar.“Today, as people have come to know that Gyanesh Kumar Ji has committed a crime and committed an act of treason, he should resign today and legal action should be taken against him,” Gogoi said.“Along with Gyanesh Kumar, the ones sitting behind him, their masters, Prime Minister Modi Ji and Home Minister Amit Shah Ji, should remember today that the country will not forgive them,” he added.CJP threatens protest on October 2National pressure group Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) has also demanded the resignation of CEC Gyanesh Kumar and announced a nationwide protest if he does not step down by Saturday.CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke said the party would begin its protest from Mumbai on October 2, Gandhi Jayanti, and subsequently take the agitation to cities across the country.The announcement came after the party gave Kumar a 48-hour deadline to resign over the allegations.