CEC Resignation Demanded: Naveen Patnaik Cites Election Roll Disquiet
CEC Resignation Demanded: Naveen Patnaik Cites Election Roll Disquiet
Former CM Naveen Patnaik demands CEC Gyanesh Kumar's resignation & a re-evaluation of the SIR 2026 electoral process, citing significant voter exclusions and internal dissent reports. #ElectionCommission #VoterRights
Former Odisha Chief Minister and Biju Janata Dal (BJD) President, Naveen Patnaik, has made a strong demand on Friday, September 25, 2026, calling for the immediate resignation of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar. Patnaik's call comes amidst reports of significant internal disagreements within the Election Commission and alleged discrepancies in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) 2026 electoral process.
He insists that the entire SIR exercise must be thoroughly revisited.
The BJD has been vocal about its opposition to the SIR process from its inception. The party alleges that a large number of eligible voters have been unlawfully excluded from the final electoral roll in Odisha under the SIR 2026.
This issue, coupled with reports of sharp differences between CEC Gyanesh Kumar and other Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi, who reportedly objected to decisions at least 14 times over the past 10 months, has fueled the demand for the CEC's resignation.
According to the BJD, the SIR 2026 process, initiated by mapping 2025 electoral data, was deliberately complicated instead of simplified.
This complexity, they argue, led directly to the exclusion of voters from the eligible list. The party pointed out that on May 14, 2026, at the time of the SIR process notification, the electoral roll available on the website contained 3,40,72,744 voters in the state.
This figure was also mapped with the 2002 SIR.
However, the Chief Electoral Officer had initially stated that 3.16 crore voters had been mapped, leading the BJD to question the whereabouts of the missing voters. Furthermore, during the form-filling process, the number of voters stood at 3,33,93,531. The BJD highlighted that a lack of proper awareness campaigns hindered people from submitting their applications effectively.
The draft electoral roll later showed 3,13,87,034 voters.
Comparing these figures, the BJD stated that approximately 27 lakh voters had been excluded. Despite this, the Election Officer claimed only 20,12,000 voters were excluded, a statement the BJD found inconsistent with the provided data. This inconsistency has further deepened concerns about the integrity and accuracy of the electoral roll revision.
Reinforcing these concerns, Karnataka Chief Minister DK Shivakumar has also independently called for the scrapping and restarting of the SIR process and demanded CEC Gyanesh Kumar's resignation, echoing the sentiments of a growing chorus of critics.
