CEC needs to correct course, not just damage control

Opinion CEC needs to correct course, not just damage control In distrustful times, it is even more necessary that people's trust in the EC's credibility as an impartial referee, and in the checks and balances within, is protected.

Key points

• 3 min readSep 29, 2026 06: 00 AM IST First published on: Sep 29, 2026 at 06: 00 AM IST.
• Then, it must act and it must be seen to act to correct the course.
• The four-page note issued after Saturday's session, therefore, is welcome.
• The onus is still on the ECI since the poll monitor's weakening is an especially disquieting prospect when political polarisation is rising and institutions are fraying.

In practice, the onus is still on the ECI since the poll monitor's weakening is an especially disquieting prospect when political polarisation is rising and institutions are fraying.

When the Election Commission of India met on Saturday, for the first time after this newspaper's investigation into the disquiet within, it did well to break an untenable silence. In the immediate aftermath of it coming to light that two of the three Election Commissioners had recorded their objections, 14 times in 10 months, on the Commission's decision-making – on matters relating to registering new voters, deleting and restoring names in the electoral rolls and control of the system through which the rolls are maintained – the Commission sought to paper over the cracks. The four-page note issued after Saturday's session, therefore, is welcome. Its nine decisions address a number of of the objections recorded by Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi. And yet, there are significant leftover worries. Given the record of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar – of rendering the three-member Commission's functioning unilateral and opaque – the Commission needs to break more silences. A new normal inside it needs to be clearly spelt out. Steps must be taken to ensure that the ECI does not slide back into a one-man show.

Notably, the ECI must fill in the blanks. Then, it must act and it must be seen to act to correct the course. Going ahead, there must be regular meetings and briefings. Commissioners Sandhu and Joshi must continue to push back at the distortions within. Most of all, CEC Gyanesh Kumar must acknowledge the damage done to the Commission on his watch, and create amends. Whether and how he does that – not just damage control – is key to the trust of we, the individuals, in the integrity of elections.

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Taken together, the developments around CEC needs to correct course, not just damage control point to a situation that is still moving, and the coming days should bring more clarity.