India’s first Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sukumar Sen (March 21, 1950 to December 19, 1958) was a man of few words. But he was a man of great action. He published no memoirs but is credited with having conducted one of the world’s largest and most inclusive elections. His life is a lesson for those who are now in office: History remembers your work. Not your words or your excuses.
Reeling from a damning Supreme Court of India’s interim order on August 14, 2025 (to publish the names and reasons for excluding 65 lakh electors from the Bihar draft roll), and facing a litany of questions following a game-changing exposé by the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, the Election Commission of India (ECI) is now facing what is arguably the thorniest credibility crisis in its history. And, going by the reactions to the ECI’s recent press conference on Sunday, August 17, it is likely to get worse.
It is unclear what the ECI wanted to achieve by holding this press conference. Oscillating between vague self-congratulatory rhetoric to placing the onus on political parties regarding the integrity of voter lists, and then calling out (without naming) the Leader of the Opposition, with incorrect references to the law, the ECI seemed unsure of the message that it sought to be communicated.
Unconvincing answers
If it was to clarify the doubts with regard to the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar exercise, it did not do so. If it was to reassure voters of the sanctity of voter rolls, it did not do so. If it was to answer the questions with regard to voter anomalies raised by the Opposition parties and independent journalists, it did not do so.
What the ECI did succeed in doing was vindicating the Opposition claim of the ECI being neither bipartisan nor administratively savvy. The Internet was flooded with clips of the CEC, Gyanesh Kumar, giving unconvincing answers to important questions.
One example was the CEC’s reason for the ECI’s refusal to share video footage. This footage, which is essential to identify dual voting, cannot be given apparently on the grounds that it would violate the privacy of women, which is outrageously absurd. Here is another example. The CEC asked why politicians raise these issues after the election results and not when the draft voter lists are shared with the Booth Level Agents before the election. The answer is that electoral fraud becomes apparent only after voting. Bogus voter patterns can only be identified after the results are declared. That the Chief Election Commissioner of India does not know this is cause for concern.
And, what the CEC did not tell the public is how the ECI has steadfastly refused to share the same voter list data (which it provides before an election) after the results are declared.
Denial of data
Let us give other examples based on experience. The first writer of this article, on behalf of his party, the Indian National Congress, wrote to the ECI on December 27, 2024, asking for the electoral rolls related to Maharashtra and Haryana. The ECI did not even bother acknowledging the writer’s requests despite another communication on January 17, 2025.
Given this stone walling, the writer had no other option but to approach the Delhi High Court. There could be no justification to deny data which had already been provided to political parties and the refusal of which could not be justified by invoking any legal provision. As a result, on February 25, 2025, notice was issued by the Delhi High Court. On the same day, the ECI submitted that it had directed the respective Chief Electoral Officers (CEOs) to decide the representation in accordance with the law and through a speaking order. Accepting this, the High Court imposed a time limit of three months to decide the same.
The writers of this article appeared in person before the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Maharashtra (in compliance with this order), while their colleagues appeared before the CEO, Haryana. On May 22, 2025, the CEO, Maharashtra, passed his order, while the CEO, Haryana passed his order on May 24, 2025.
Both were the same to a substantial extent. They did not provide any voter lists but noted that the data had already been provided before the election (the same argument made ad nauseum by the CEC in his defence); some of the information was available on the website, and, third, had a line that said to “seek additional copies of the same documents/information subject to compliance with the requirements of the rules, from the respective competent authorities under the rules”.
The response speaks for itself. Five months after the request was first made, the ECI had invoked every excuse that it could in order not to provide machine-readable digital voter lists. This was a plain and simple case of stonewalling any meaningful scrutiny by hiding behind bureaucratic jargon.
On the Bihar SIR, the ECI has tried a similar strategy but with disastrous results. The ECI was forced to reply to why it was refusing to provide any data on the 65 lakh voters names it had deleted. And it was forced to explain its decision of excluding a range of widely used identification documents, including Aadhaar.
As highlighted, the Supreme Court, on August 14, rejected the arguments presented by the ECI to deny this data and directed that the names of all those who had been deleted had to be published, along with the reasons. Further, all of this was to be in searchable mode alongwith the Electors Photo Identification Card (EPIC). The Court also directed that the ECI accept the Aadhaar as a valid identification document in the cases of the persons aggrieved.
Losing voter trust
In the press meet, the CEC spent much of the time making remarks about the transparent nature of the ECI’s workings and its commitment to voters. But he did not say anything about why the ECI had to be directed to carry out its basic duty.
The ECI has no one else to blame but itself. This is a crisis that is entirely of its own making.
The ECI has already lost the faith of all the major political parties except for the party that is in power. This is an indictment in itself. The ECI is now losing the trust of the voters that it claims to serve.
Perhaps, this disconnect was best illustrated by the analogy used by the CEC in his press meet when he declared that the ECI stands with voters like a mountain.
The CEC must remember this. In a democracy, the people — and not the CEC — are the mountain.
Randeep Singh Surjewala is a Member of Parliament (Congress party) and an advocate. Muhammad A. Khan is an Advocate of the Supreme Court of India and the Secretary of the All India Congress Committee (AICC) Law Department
Published – August 21, 2025 12:16 am IST