Mallikarjun Kharge calls Gyanesh Kumar puppet at Congress meet, lists 5 demands

Mallikarjun Kharge called Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar a puppet at a Congress Working Committee meeting and set out five demands on electoral rolls and poll transparency. The intervention came amid a row over reported dissent within the Election Commission on the Special Intensive Revision process.Mallikarjun Kharge and Gyanesh KumarNew Delhi,Sep 29, 2026 14:15 ISTCongress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Tuesday called Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar a “puppet” of the Narendra Modi government and laid out five demands for greater transparency in electoral rolls and the election process. Kharge's attack came amid a massive row over an Express report highlighting the dissent within the Election Commission (EC) regarding some aspects of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.Addressing a Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting, Kharge demanded that data on major changes to voter lists be made public, deleted voters be informed and given an opportunity to appeal, and political parties be given timely access to electoral-roll data in a simple format. He also called for independent, time-bound investigations into serious discrepancies and greater transparency in election-related data and decisions.“People's names are being removed from voter lists through conspiracy, and the CEC has become a puppet of the Modi government,” Kharge said, alleging that the process undermined the protection of eligible voters' rights.Kharge said the demands were aimed at protecting voters' rights and ensuring public confidence in the electoral process. He referred to the explosive Indian Express investigation that reported that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had raised objections on 14 occasions over decisions and processes related to the SIR in the last 10 months.“Two Election Commissioners themselves have described the CEC's actions as arbitrary and improper,” the Congress chief said. The Express investigation reported that Sandhu and Joshi had formally objected to various aspects of the SIR and electoral-roll management. Their concerns included changes to Form 6, used for new voter registration, deletion and restoration of names, appeals against orders restoring voters and centralisation of the electoral-roll database.The EC, however, said the report presented “only one part of the picture” and maintained that differences of view were part of normal deliberations. The poll panel subsequently said that decisions relating to the SIR had been taken unanimously.At the CWC meeting, Kharge questioned the functioning of the EC, alleging why two Election Commissioners were excluded from an internal portal and whether confidential decisions were being taken without their participation.The Congress chief said the party's campaign was not aimed at weakening the Election Commission but at ensuring that the institution remained credible to both the BJP and the Opposition.“Our fight is not against any party, organisation, or individual, but to protect the rights of Indian voters, the Constitution, and India's democratic system,” he said.Kharge also backed Rahul Gandhi's earlier allegations concerning electoral-roll irregularities, saying he had raised questions based on voter data from Mahadevapura (Bengaluru), Aland (Karnataka), Haryana and Maharashtra.He said the Congress would continue its campaign for electoral transparency, arguing that elections and governments may change but democracy and the Constitution must remain protected. “Most importantly, Indian voters should be confident that their vote is secure,” he said.- Ends