CEC Gyanesh Kumar faces resignation calls from farm unions over voter roll revision

Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar is facing demands for his resignation from farmer groups and opposition parties following the Election Commission of India's recent electoral roll revision exercise.

The Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) submitted a memorandum to President Droupadi Murmu through district and sub-divisional magistrates across the country, seeking the withdrawal of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) and Kumar's prosecution. Farm bodies and allied trade unions announced demonstrations across 25 states and Union Territories, while the civil society umbrella group People Against SIR planned a march in New Delhi towards Nirvachan Sadan.

Electoral authorities maintain that routine updates and clean-ups of voter registers remain foundational to ensuring transparent, tamper-proof democratic participation. While the annual Special Summary Revision (SSR) makes regular corrections, the more comprehensive SIR rebuilds registries from scratch to eliminate duplicate entries and maintain voter list hygiene.

Opposition parties contest roll revisions

The dispute over voter rolls has spilled into state-level interactions. In Tamil Nadu, representatives of the ruling Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK)-led alliance and the opposition Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) staged a walkout from an all-party consultation chaired by Chief Electoral Officer Archana Patnaik. Both parties echoed demands for Kumar’s resignation, questioning deletions from the state’s registers.

Alongside calls for the CEC's removal, the SKM petition urged an amendment to the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners Act of 2023, asking that the Chief Justice of India be placed on the selection committee alongside executive representatives. They have also pressed for wider electoral policy shifts, including proportional representation.

Customs procedures at Delhi airport spark political exchange

The controversy widened into personal administrative friction when Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann alleged political harassment following his return from a food trade fair in Paris. Mann claimed he was detained for roughly two hours at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport by customs authorities, who searched his baggage and issued a Rs 50,000 challan.

Mann alleged that the airport customs chief, whom he named as Manish Kumar, is the brother of the Chief Election Commissioner, claiming the inspection amounted to political retaliation. However, that alleged familial connection has not been officially confirmed by authorities.

Officials maintain that customs procedures at international gateways apply uniformly under standard border control laws regardless of public profile, ensuring regulatory compliance and institutional order. Opposition leaders in Punjab noted that the checks reportedly centred on standard excess luggage or cash limits. The high-profile scrutiny comes amid ongoing efforts across national transport hubs to enforce standard entry procedures equally.