When Gyanesh Kumar took charge as India’s 26th chief election commissioner (CEC) in February 2025, his work on the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution and setting up the Ram temple trust featured prominently in accounts of his career.
Neither Sandhu nor Joshi has publicly spoken about the objections attributed to them. Kumar’s appointment as the CEC had itself drawn criticism from the opposition. Gandhi, its sole opposition member, sought a delay in the selection until the Supreme Court had heard petitions challenging the law. Kumar held several posts in the Kerala government before moving to senior assignments at the Centre. He later served as a secretary in the parliamentary affairs and cooperation ministries. He also served as a joint secretary in the defence ministry and as a joint secretary and an additional secretary in the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).
His term is due to end on January 26, 2029. Election commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi objected on record at least 14 times over the last 10 months to decisions and orders they said were issued without their knowledge, according to an Indian Express investigation. The objections included changes to the statutory voter registration Form 6 and centralised control over the electoral roll database. He was the first person chosen for the post under a 2023 law that replaced the chief justice of India on the selection panel with a Union Cabinet minister, giving the government two members on the three-member panel. A 1988-batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of the Kerala cadre, Kumar retired as a secretary in the cooperation ministry in January 2024 and joined the EC in March, just before the Lok Sabha election schedule was announced. He became the CEC on February 19, 2025. In the Union Home Ministry, he worked on decisions following the abrogation of the provisions of Article 370 and on establishing the Ram Janmabhoomi trust after a Supreme Court verdict.
The Election Commission (EC) has said differing views are a normal part of deliberations and that its final decisions, including those concerning the SIR, were unanimous. Earlier, Kumar’s response to Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi’s “vote chori” charge also drew criticism after he asked the Congress leader to substantiate it with a sworn declaration or apologise.
