Union minister Rijiju rebukes Rahul Gandhi’s call for Election Commission chief’s resignation

Union minister Kiren Rijiju told reporters that amplifying Rahul Gandhi’s remarks about the Election Commission would send a “wrong message to society”. Gandhi, speaking at a Congress press conference, accused the commission of compromising the 2024 Lok Sabha and assembly elections and demanded the immediate resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, also praising two commissioners who had reportedly objected to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

The Election Commission refuted claims of internal dissent, stating that all SIR decisions were taken with unanimous approval of its three members. Rijiju’s comments followed similar rebukes from Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath and Maharashtra deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde, who accused the opposition of undermining constitutional institutions. The dispute highlights ongoing political tension over the handling of voter-registration revisions ahead of upcoming elections. Opposition parties including the Congress, CPI, CPI(M), Trinamool Congress and Shiv Sena (UBT) continue to call for Kumar’s resignation.