BJD president and Leader of Opposition in the Odisha Assembly Naveen Patnaik on Friday demanded the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and called for a rethink of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
Speaking to reporters outside the Assembly, Patnaik cited reported objections raised by Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi over decisions concerning electoral-roll management.
“Because of the strong differences between the various Election Commissioners, the Chief Election Commissioner should immediately resign and the whole SIR process should be thoroughly revisited,” Patnaik said.
He added that the BJD had opposed the SIR process from the beginning and would take up the issue strongly.
Reported objections within Election Commission
Patnaik’s remarks came after an investigation by The Indian Express reported that Sandhu and Joshi had formally recorded objections at least 14 times over 10 months to decisions and orders issued in the name of the Election Commission.
The reported objections covered issues including voter registration, deletion and restoration of names, changes to Form 6, electoral-roll appeals and the handling of the Commission’s voter database. The report said the two commissioners had raised concerns about certain decisions being taken without their knowledge or approval.
The report also highlighted concerns over the reported centralisation of electoral-roll database management and changes involving the Commission’s IT infrastructure.
Election Commission says decisions were unanimous
The Election Commission has rejected suggestions that the reported objections amounted to a formal disagreement over its final decisions.
The poll panel said that differences and observations during internal deliberations are part of the functioning of a multi-member constitutional body and maintained that decisions taken by the Commission, including those related to SIR, were unanimous.
The Commission did not dispute the existence of the reported internal notes, but said focusing on individual observations without considering the broader body of approvals and decisions presented only part of the picture.
The three-member Election Commission comprises CEC Gyanesh Kumar and Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi.
SIR and voter-roll deletions
The SIR exercise has become a major political issue amid the large-scale revision of electoral rolls.
According to data reported by The Indian Express, the exercise had resulted in 13.37 crore names being left out of draft electoral rolls across 30 states and Union Territories, representing a 14.1% reduction from the pre-SIR electorate. The figures relate to draft rolls and do not necessarily represent permanent deletions, as claims and objections can lead to names being restored.
The process has also faced legal and administrative scrutiny, including over voter appeals and the handling of discrepancies in electoral-roll data.
Naveen targets BJP over MMDR Act
Patnaik also criticised the BJP over the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Act, 2026, questioning the support extended to the legislation by BJP MPs from Odisha.
“As far as the MMDR Act is concerned, why blame others when 20 Lok Sabha MPs from Odisha belonging to the BJP supported this Bill in Parliament?” he said.
Patnaik said the BJD would raise the issue with the Odisha government and seek its intervention, arguing that the amended law could result in a significant loss of revenue for the state.
The MMDR amendment has become a major issue in the Odisha Assembly, with Opposition parties seeking its withdrawal. The state government has said it has not yet made a quantified assessment of the law’s financial impact and that its implications would be examined after the Centre frames the relevant rules.
The BJD has separately announced a mass protest in Bhubaneswar on September 28 seeking withdrawal of the MMDR Amendment Act.
