New Delhi: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convenor Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday demanded the arrest of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar, accusing him of overseeing electoral manipulation and calling for the cancellation and re-conduct of several recent elections.
Kejriwal made the demands at a press conference after a series of reports by The Indian Express detailed objections raised by Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi over aspects of the Election Commission’s functioning, including electoral-roll revisions, changes to Form 6 and the handling of voter data.
Kejriwal alleged that Kumar had been running the Election Commission of India (ECI) without adequately involving the other two commissioners. He described Kumar as the alleged “mastermind” behind a vote-rigging operation and demanded that he be arrested and prosecuted under sedition provisions.
The allegations are political claims and have not been established as findings against the CEC. The ECI has maintained that decisions, including those relating to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), were taken unanimously with the approval of all three commissioners.
Kejriwal seeks cancellation of recent elections
Kejriwal also called for the annulment and re-polling of elections held recently in Delhi, Bihar, West Bengal and Maharashtra.
Referring to the Indian Express investigation, he claimed that previous allegations of electoral manipulation had been substantiated by the reported differences within the poll panel.
“Until now, we used to hear allegations that PM Modi and Amit Shah were winning election after election by stealing votes. However, a story in The Indian Express today has proven that they are winning elections through vote-rigging, with Gyanesh Kumar acting as the mastermind behind it,” Kejriwal said.
He demanded that Kumar be arrested and prosecuted and that the elections in the states and Union Territories he named be annulled and re-conducted.
The Indian Express reported that Sandhu and Joshi had formally raised objections on multiple occasions over decisions and orders concerning voter additions, deletions and electoral-roll processes. According to the report, the two commissioners had raised objections 14 times over a period of 10 months.
Row over three-member Election Commission
Kejriwal argued that the Election Commission is a three-member body and that decisions are supposed to be taken collectively.
He alleged that Kumar had issued instructions to subordinate officials without the approval of the full Commission, citing the written objections reportedly made by Sandhu and Joshi.
“The Election Commission comprises three commissioners, and decisions are made by consensus. No single individual can issue orders; all three are equal, with the CEC merely chairing meetings,” Kejriwal said.
The Indian Express reports cited by Kejriwal said the two Election Commissioners had objected to several steps, including changes related to Form 6 and the centralisation of access to voter databases. One report said the commissioners had raised concerns about a system in which Electoral Registration Officers’ decisions could face software-related restrictions from the ECI headquarters.
The ECI, however, has said that internal checks and differences in written notes are part of institutional processes and that decisions of the Commission, including the SIR exercise, were ultimately unanimous.
Kejriwal attacks SIR voter-roll exercise
A major part of Kejriwal’s criticism centred on the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
He claimed that more than 13 crore names had been removed from draft electoral rolls during the nationwide exercise and called the process illegal. He demanded that the SIR exercise be scrapped and that voter lists be restored to their status from three years ago.
“The entire SIR process, through which over 13 crore names were deleted, is illegal; the SIR process must be scrapped,” Kejriwal said.
The Indian Express has reported that the SIR exercise, which began in Bihar in June 2025, has resulted in more than 13 crore names being struck off draft voter rolls across 30 states and Union Territories. The report also detailed objections raised by Sandhu and Joshi concerning changes to voter-registration procedures.
Kejriwal also alleged that changes to Form 6, used by new voters to register, were unauthorised. The Indian Express reported that a new declaration related to the earlier SIR exercise had been incorporated into Form 6 on the ECINet portal, prompting objections from the two Election Commissioners.
AAP to consult opposition parties
Kejriwal described the developments as a major institutional controversy and said the AAP would consult other opposition parties on the issue.
“This country belongs neither solely to the opposition nor to the ruling parties, it belongs to all of us. Everyone must come together to raise their voice,” he said.
The controversy has triggered criticism of Kumar from several opposition parties. Leaders of the Congress, Trinamool Congress, Samajwadi Party, CPI(M) and other parties have raised demands ranging from an inquiry and rollback of SIR-related changes to Kumar’s removal.
The Election Commission currently comprises CEC Gyanesh Kumar and Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi, according to the ECI’s official directory.
The dispute comes as the poll panel faces continuing scrutiny over the electoral-roll revision process and the reported differences among its three members.