Demand for re-election in Maharashtra, Bengal and Tamil Nadu; What did Uddhav, Mamta and Kejriwal say?

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A new controversy has arisen in the country's politics after a report regarding differences of opinion between Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and two election commissioners in the Election Commission of India.

After this, many opposition leaders demanded re-holding of the recently held West Bengal and Tamil Nadu assembly elections as well as the Maharashtra assembly elections held in 2024.

Many experts and experts have also raised questions on the functioning of the Election Commission after the report, calling it 'worrying for democracy'.

According to an investigative report by 'The Indian Express', Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had lodged formal objections to the commission's decisions and orders at least 14 times in the last 10 months.

According to the report, both the Election Commissioners raised questions on matters like addition of new names in the voter list, deletion and restoration of names, changes in Form-6 and management of voter data.

In some cases he also allegedly objected to decisions about which he said he was not aware. That is, the report claims that overall there are differences in the Election Commission regarding the Special Intensive Revision Campaign (SIR) of the voter list.

According to the Indian Express, both the commissioners also expressed concerns about the centralization of voter data and election software. He had also written to the Cabinet Secretary in this matter.

However, the Election Commission has said after this report that written comments, technical suggestions and different opinions within the Commission are part of its normal decision process.

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The Commission says that all the decisions taken in the last one year, including those related to SIR, were taken with the consent of the three Election Commissioners.

Amidst this controversy, opposition parties have intensified their demand for removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, stopping of SIR and investigation of the entire matter.

Some leaders have gone further and demanded re-election in those states where elections have already been held.

Most of the discussion is about the demand for re-election in Maharashtra, West Bengal and Tamil Nadu.

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Uddhav Thackeray:

Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray has demanded cancellation of the assembly elections held in Maharashtra, West Bengal and Tamil Nadu and re-election.

He said that new elections should be conducted through ballot paper.

Thackeray also demanded the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar from the post and action against him.

He said that the objections of two members of the Election Commission have strengthened the questions already being raised by the opposition.

He said, "Till now only we, i.e. the opposition, have been saying these things. Perhaps for the first time in the history of the country, something like this has happened. There are three Election Commissioners in the Election Commission and two of them, Vivek Joshi and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu, have written a letter to the Cabinet Secretary complaining that Gyanesh Kumar is working arbitrarily in the Election Commission. This is a very serious matter. Democracy is being murdered... I want to thank both of them for showing courage. Now our demand is that Gyanesh Kumar should be immediately sent to jail and democracy should be saved."

Assembly elections in Maharashtra were held in November 2024. In this, the Bharatiya Janata Party led Mahayuti alliance had got 237 seats out of 288. BJP's Devendra Fadnavis was appointed CM of the state.

Assembly elections in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu were held in 2026. BJP government was formed in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu is currently ruled by Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam (TVK) party and C. Joseph Vijay is the Chief Minister of the state. This government has been formed with the support of Congress, VCK, and Left parties.

That is, Thackeray's demand is not just to raise questions on the process of the upcoming elections. He is demanding re-conduct of the already held assembly elections.

Mamta Banerjee:

Former Chief Minister of West Bengal Mamata Banerjee has also demanded re-holding of assembly elections in the state.

He said that elections should be re-conducted on the basis of the voter list before SIR.

Mamata Banerjee also demanded the arrest of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.

He alleged that the BJP and the Election Commission "looted" the Bengal Assembly elections held this year.

He said, "This is a very shameful and serious matter. We have never seen anything like this in our lives. The Chief Election Commissioner should be arrested. He has no moral right to continue in his post. BJP should understand that it cannot destroy our Constitution. It cannot destroy democracy."

Arvind Kejriwal:

Former Chief Minister of Delhi and founder of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Arvind Kejriwal also demanded re-election in many states including Delhi.

Kejriwal said that the changes made under SIR should also be canceled and the three-year old voter list should be restored.

He said in a press conference, "We demand that Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar be arrested and prosecuted. All elections held in the last few years should be canceled and they should be re-conducted. The Election Commission is not the name of any one person. It consists of three members. A Chief Election Commissioner and two Election Commissioners. All three participate in the meetings. Decisions are taken either unanimously or on the basis of majority. Any one of the three alone No one person can run the Election Commission as per his wish. The Chief Election Commissioner is called 'First among Equals'. He only presides over the meetings and has no additional powers."

Rahul Gandhi said- "Vote theft" is an attack on the Constitution.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi also attacked the Election Commission and BJP on this matter.

He released a video calling "vote theft" a crime against the Indian people and a direct attack on the Constitution.

Rahul Gandhi, while addressing the Election Commission and election officials, said that what is being done is wrong and "the time will come" when action will be taken.

What did Stalin say?

Former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK President MK Stalin has demanded the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.

Stalin said that Gyanesh Kumar has no right to continue in the post.

Stalin also demanded immediate stopping of SIR and an impartial inquiry into the functioning of the Election Commission.

Citing the Indian Express report, Stalin said that the facts revealed in it raise serious questions on the results of the assembly elections held after the SIR.

He wrote in a long post on

Stalin wrote, "According to the law, Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) have the right to investigate and implement amendments in the voter list. But even the names of those who were declared eligible voters were not added to the ERO voter list. This happened because the website used for this was completely under the control of one person."

What did the Election Commission say?

Amidst these allegations of the opposition, the Election Commission has rejected the allegations against itself.

The Commission has said that the written comments, suggestions and objections mentioned in the Indian Express report are part of the Commission's normal decision process.

According to the Commission, election commissioners may have different opinions while discussing any issue.

But the final decisions were taken with the consent of all three members of the commission.

The Commission said that in the last one year, decisions taken on all major matters including SIR were taken unanimously.

That is, the Election Commission has not denied the comments or objections made by the two Election Commissioners, but it says that these comments should be seen separately from the final decisions.

What did BJP say?

Along with the Election Commission's statement, BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra said in a press conference that the opposition parties, in their frustration of not being able to win the elections, have made attacking and defaming constitutional institutions their biggest weapon.

He said, "The Election Commission has clearly written in its very first paragraph that after all the official and democratic deliberations, the decision on SIR was finally taken unanimously."

"The overall story is that the Election Commission of India or any constitutional institution of India is not under dictatorial rule. They are working democratically and maintaining India's democracy."

How serious do experts consider it?

Former Chief Election Commissioner SY Qureshi has also raised questions on this development and said that these developments are serious for the credibility of a constitutional institution like the Election Commission.

Speaking to India Today, Qureshi said that all those decisions which have been taken despite the disagreement of the two election commissioners, should be cancelled. He also said that the illegal changes in the voter list of West Bengal should also be cancelled.