Stories
CEC Gyanesh Kumar Faces Intense Pressure Over Electoral Rolls and Form 6
- •Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar is facing intense pressure and resignation demands from opposition parties over alleged irregularities in electoral roll revisions.
- •The Supreme Court has sought responses from the Election Commission and the Centre on a plea alleging key decisions were made without the approval of other election commissioners.
- •Controversy surrounds changes to Form 6, where first-time voters were asked to provide parental or grandparental voting history, a modification the Supreme Court clarified it never approved.
- •Activists and legal experts have raised serious questions regarding the autonomy of the poll panel, the Special Intensive Revision process, and the functioning of the ECI Net portal.
Key Questions Answered
Opposition parties and groups like the Indian Youth Congress are demanding CEC Gyanesh Kumar's resignation due to allegations of a lack of transparency, accountability, and vote irregularities during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, as well as internal disputes regarding how panel decisions were made.
Form 6 is used by first-time voters, but controversy arose after an additional declaration was introduced for the SIR process requiring details about parents or grandparents. Critics and the Supreme Court noted this could burden young voters who may have no prior connection to older electoral rolls, and the court clarified it never approved this modification.
The Supreme Court is examining a plea alleging that key decisions—including the Bengal SIR process, changes to Form 6, and software usage—were taken by the poll panel without the approval of the other two election commissioners. It has sought responses and records from the Election Commission and the Centre to evaluate their legal validity.
