In an unusual escalation of differences within the Election Commission of India (ECI), two Election Commissioners, Dr. Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Dr. Vivek Joshi, wrote separate letters to Cabinet Secretary TV Somanathan on July 29, 2026, objecting to the conduct of a senior Commission official and seeking appropriate action, records released under the Right to Information (RTI) Act show.
ECs Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi wrote to Cabinet Secretary TV Somanathan objecting to the conduct of Deputy Election Commissioner Maneesh Garg
The letters, addressed to the Cabinet Secretary, concerned senior Deputy Election Commissioner Maneesh Garg and an order he issued revising the allocation of work among senior officers. The two Commissioners alleged that the changes were made without prior discussion with the Commission or the officers concerned. The development comes amid questions about differences within the poll body. Within hours of taking charge as link officer, Garg issued an order revising the allocation of work among Senior Deputy Election Commissioners, Deputy Election Commissioners, Director Generals and equivalent officers. Joshi, in his separate letter, raised similar objections. Joshi also alleged that he was denied access to the relevant file when he sought it from the Administration Division. The note recommended that the Cabinet Secretary acknowledge both letters and send copies to the Secretary, Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), the Establishment Officer and the Principal Private Secretary to the Chief Election Commissioner. It also recommended that the matter be placed on record with DoPT for future decisions on the officer concerned, Garg.
Because they had not been written by the Election Commission, but the two commissioners in their individual capacity, hT also reported that the Cabinet Secretary did not act on the letters. The Indian Express reported on September 23 that two Election Commissioners had objected on record 14 times in 10 months to steps involving the addition of new voters and deletion of names from electoral rolls, and had approached the Cabinet Secretary over concerns about the integrity of the voter database. In his letter, Sandhu said Garg was assigned additional charge of the Administration Division on July 28, during the leave of Deputy Election Commissioner Bhanu Prakash Yeturu. Earlier reporting noted: Hindustan Times first reported on October 3, the details of the letters and the fact that they had been forwarded to DoPT , but the RTI reply shows that the CEC was also sent a copy.
He alleged that Garg had allocated work to himself as well as to officers senior or equivalent to him, and said similar orders had been issued earlier when Garg was working as Deputy Election Commissioner (Administration). He said Garg had issued the revised work-allocation order without discussing it with the Commission or informing him. It said the matter could be placed on record for future decision-making concerning Garg, an All India Services officer and an appointee of the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet. Earlier reporting noted: RTI reveals Cabinet Secretariat sent election commissioners’ letters to CEC Gyanesh Kumar The Cabinet Secretariat forwarded the letters written to the Cabinet Secretary by election commissioners Sukhbir Sandhu and Vivek Joshi about the alleged misconduct of senior deputy election commissioner (DEC) Maneesh Garg to the office of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar , in addition to sending them to the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), according to information obtained through a Right to Information (RTI) application. Earlier reporting noted: The documents released under the RTI Act to transparency activist Commodore Lokesh Batra (Retd.) show that in its note dated August 4, the secretariat noted that any step that could be “construed as interference” in a constitutional body.
