{
  "id": 9349081,
  "title": "India opposition condemns election chief after newspaper investigation",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/23/india-opposition-condemns-election-chief-after-newspaper-investigation-9349081",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-09-23T13:04:41.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Gulf News",
    "slug": "gulf-news",
    "url": "https://gulfnews.com/world/asia/india/india-opposition-condemns-election-chief-after-newspaper-investigation-2-1.500685261"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "India's political opposition has called for the removal of the Election Commission of India's chief in response to a newspaper investigation alleging illegal actions behind a voter-roll revision. The controversy stems from the nationwide revision that has removed millions of names from the voter lists since last year, with the ruling party claiming it targets fraudulently registered voters and the opposition alleging political motives. According to reports, Election Commission chief Gyanesh Kumar overruled objections from other members at least 14 times in the past 10 months, leading to the removal of approximately 130 million voters. This unilateral decision-making may be unlawful, as the commission is supposed to function based on a consensus of at least two members, according to the investigation. The main opposition Congress party accused Kumar of acting on behalf of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and demanded his immediate removal and a Supreme Court-monitored investigation. The opposition Aam Aadmi Party accused Kumar of \"vote-rigging\" and stated that any order without consensus should be considered \"illegal.\" Kumar has not commented on the report, which the ECI maintains was based on unanimous decisions, stating that the revision aimed to remove duplicate entries and prevent \"foreign illegal immigrants\" from appearing on voter rolls.",
  "summary": "New Delhi: India’s political opposition demanded the removal of the top election official on Wednesday after a newspaper investigation alleged that decisions behind a contentious voter-roll revision may have been taken illegally. The Election Commission of India (ECI) has been under scrutiny in recent months over the nationwide revision that has struck millions of names from voter lists since…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "Channel News Asia",
        "title": "India opposition condemns election chief after newspaper investigation",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/23/india-opposition-condemns-election-chief-after-newspaper-investigation",
        "published": "2026-09-23T11:50:44.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}