Why is India's Election Commission back in the eye of the storm?

India's Election Commission, considered one of the most trusted state institutions of the world's largest democracy, is facing a serious credibility crisis amid allegations of internal rule violations against its leadership. Two commission members, Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi, accuse Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar of making unlawful, unilateral decisions on voter list updates and security rules without taking colleagues' opinions into account.

"Postxronika.az" reports, citing the BBC, that it has emerged that the commissioners, sidelined from decisions on at least 14 important matters over the past 10 months, have even sent a formal complaint to the government's Cabinet Secretary. Although opposition leaders have demanded Kumar's immediate resignation following reports published in the press, the official body has characterized these disagreements as simply part of the normal decision-making process.

The events have taken a sharper turn within the framework of a controversial revision process that has resulted in 130 million people being removed from voter rolls nationwide. While millions of citizens complain about the complexity of the documentation system, former commission officials also describe the disclosure of internal objections as a notable event for the institution's transparency.

Rəşad Hüseynov