Akhilesh demands Gyanesh's resignation

Rae Bareli: Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav called for Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar to step down, citing alleged disagreements within the Election Commission. Yadav claimed that the opposition and supporters of democracy are demanding the CEC's resignation. He alleged that the election was "snatched away" and urged those responsible for the internal disputes to resign.

Yadav's demand followed an investigation by The Indian Express, which revealed that two Election Commissioners, Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi, had repeatedly raised concerns about procedural changes made without full Commission approval. These changes included centralizing the ERONET electoral roll database, altering new voter registration forms, and decisions about voter list deletions during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process.

The Indian Express reported 14 formal written dissents from Sandhu and Joshi over the course of ten months regarding decision-making under CEC Gyanesh Kumar. The Election Commission defended its actions, stating that all final decisions were made unanimously and have legal backing.