Photo Courtesy: India Today Group
Guwahati: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma pushed back against claims of turmoil inside the Election Commission on September 23. He spoke to reporters in Deoghar, Jharkhand, while attending a hospital opening. The Chief Minister dismissed growing concerns over reported infighting between Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and his colleagues, Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi.
Sarma defended the integrity of the institution. He insisted that the body possesses the internal systems to manage its own affairs without outside interference. "The Election Commission is a constitutional authority with its own established structure. We should not comment on it. The structure is sufficient to handle any issues that arise," Sarma said.
Reports from The Indian Express indicate Sandhu and Joshi flagged objections at least 14 times over the last 10 months. These disputes center on electoral roll management, voter registration processes, name deletions, and centralizing roll data. Critics also raised questions regarding the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls.
Sarma remains unmoved by the political heat. He accused opposition parties of trying to sabotage the panel whenever it ignores their demands. "The opposition is wrong. The commission is doing good work, and the opposition attempts to suppress them," he stated. Meanwhile, Election Commission officials insist they act with total unanimity. They claim all decisions, including those regarding the SIR, carry the approval of all three commissioners.
Updated at 24th September 2026 at 5:50pm
Sarma doubled down on the issue Thursday in Guwahati, clarifying that the Election Commission operates as a collective body where decisions require consensus or a majority vote. He insisted that the Chief Election Commissioner cannot act unilaterally, dismissing claims to the contrary as inconsistent with the constitutional framework.
The Chief Minister characterized the ongoing political attacks on the commission as a calculated campaign by the opposition. He specifically labeled these critics as Dimagi Naxals and argued that targeting the Chief Election Commissioner alone displays pure political frustration.
Updated at 25th September 2026 at 5:47am
The political fallout intensified on September 25. The Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP) formally demanded the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, urging President Droupadi Murmu to launch an independent probe into his tenure. AJP general secretary Jagadish Bhuyan alleged that Kumar operates like a BJP spokesperson rather than a neutral head of a constitutional body. The party also challenged the integrity of past election results, claiming outcomes did not reflect the will of the people but rather the influence of the Election Commission and EVMs.
Meanwhile, the Assam Pradesh Congress Committee launched its own offensive, staging a protest march to the Chief Electoral Officer’s office in Guwahati. Protesters burned an effigy of the CEC and demanded his arrest. Party leaders cited the reported objections from Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi—which included disputes over Form 6 registrations and voter deletions in West Bengal and Goa—as proof of systemic manipulation. The Congress plans to expand the agitation with additional rallies outside district commissioner offices across the state on September 28.
Updated at 25th September 2026 at 1:48pm
The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) joined the fray on Thursday, issuing a 48-hour ultimatum for CEC Gyanesh Kumar to resign. During a press conference at the Guwahati Press Club, CJP leader Ankit Bharadwaj claimed the ongoing Special Intensive Revision has triggered mass disenfranchisement, alleging that approximately 13 crore names, or 13 to 14 percent of the national electorate, have been scrubbed from draft rolls. The party cited figures of 2 crore exclusions each in Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh, with millions more missing in states including Karnataka, West Bengal, and Delhi.
The CJP specifically challenged the online Form 6 registration process, alleging that new applicants are forced to provide information regarding their or their parents' presence in previous rolls, a requirement they claim effectively blocks first-time voters. Bharadwaj threatened a nationwide agitation and an indefinite sit-in in Delhi if the Commission does not provide a transparent accounting of these exclusions, restore the January 2025 rolls pending verification, and repeal the 2023 law governing the appointment of election commissioners.
Updated at 25th September 2026 at 5:50pm
Tensions boiled over in Guwahati on Friday as police detained APCC president Gaurav Gogoi and a string of senior Congress leaders. The dragnet captured AICC secretary Manoj Chauhan, Seva Dal president Deep Bayan, and general secretary Udit Bhanu Das during a planned march toward the Chief Electoral Officer’s office. Protesters attempted to bypass barricades erected near the party headquarters to burn an effigy of the CEC. Gogoi ramped up the rhetoric while in custody, branding the Commission’s recent actions as treason and calling for the arrest of those he claims are pulling the strings, specifically naming Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah.
The CJP’s campaign against the poll panel expanded with national executive committee members Ankit Bhardwaj, Akash Prem, Varun Agrawal, and Anam arriving in Guwahati to coordinate the surge. The party confirmed it will hold a volunteers meet on September 27 for supporters across the northeastern states. Beyond the SIR controversy, the CJP flagged internal concerns about state-level infiltration, with leaders questioning the local government's handling of recurring floods and alleging official capitulation to sand mining interests.
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