Opposition demands CEC Gyanesh Kumar's impeachment over SIR electoral revision row

Opposition parties on Wednesday demanded the scrapping of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and called for the impeachment and arrest of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. The demand followed reports that two Election Commissioners, Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi, had raised objections 14 times in recent months to the SIR process and issues relating to deletion of voter names.

Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi termed the alleged irregularities as "vote chori" and an act of treason. Shiv Sena (UBT), AAP, DMK, and other opposition leaders demanded Kumar's removal and arrest. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge noted that 73 opposition Rajya Sabha MPs had submitted a removal notice.

The Election Commission responded that differing views are normal in any institution and that all orders represent unanimous decisions of the full Commission over the past year.