Congress Claims PM Knew of Election Commission IT Row, Questions Official's Continued Role

The Congress on Saturday claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was aware of changes made to the Election Commission's ECINET software. Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh stated that a complaint by Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi reached the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), which operates under the PM's charge. Ramesh alleged the PM is "aware of all this and it is likely taking place on his direction."

Ramesh also accused the Election Commission of retaining an officer at the centre of the reported dispute over its IT division. He cited reports that despite complaints from two Election Commissioners in July 2026 to the Cabinet Secretary, the officer continues in a key role supervising the same division. Ramesh alleged this reflects an attempt to centralise control over the electoral system, claiming Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and the PM have "kept the particular officer in place to retain their centralised control."