‘Opposition is wrong’: Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma defends Election Commission amid SIR row

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on September 23 defended the Election Commission amid a reported disagreement among its three members over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, accusing the Opposition of attempting to undermine the poll panel.

Sarma was speaking to reporters in Jharkhand's Deoghar district, where he was present for the inauguration of a multi-speciality private hospital.

Asked about reports of differences between Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi, Sarma said the Election Commission was a constitutional body with an established mechanism to deal with such issues.

"The Election Commission is a constitutional authority with its own established structure. We should not comment on it. The structure is sufficient to handle any issues that arise," he said.

Sarma was then asked whether the Opposition's protests against the Election Commission were justified. He rejected the criticism and accused the Opposition of trying to obstruct the poll panel's functioning.

"The opposition is wrong. The commission is doing good work, and the opposition attempts to suppress them. Whosoever refuses to follow the opposition's instruction, it conspires against them," Sarma said.

His comments came hours after The Indian Express reported that Sandhu and Joshi had formally raised objections at least 14 times over the past 10 months regarding decisions and orders linked to electoral-roll management, including the SIR, which they said were taken without their knowledge.

The reported objections covered issues including voter registration, deletion and restoration of names, changes to Form 6 and the management and centralisation of electoral-roll data.

The Election Commission, however, has disputed the suggestion of a division within the three-member panel. Officials said on Wednesday that all decisions, including those concerning the SIR, had been taken unanimously with the approval of all three commissioners.