Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson and Member of Parliament Sambit Patra on Wednesday, 23 September defended the Election Commission of India (ECI) amid a media report claiming that two Election Commissioners had 'objected on record' to several decisions taken by the poll panel. Addressing a press conference in New Delhi, Patra argued that internal deliberations among the three commissioners were proof of a functioning democracy, not a flaw in the institution.

BJP's Core Defence of the ECI

Patra cited the media report directly to turn the Opposition's argument on its head. 'According to the media report, there have been official deliberations between the three Election Commissioners, which is a sign of a healthy democracy,' he said.

He pushed back against what he described as a contradictory Opposition stance: 'If the three Election Commissioners do not communicate with each other, do not exchange views or consult one another, and simply keep agreeing with each other, then the Opposition parties say, 'This is a dictatorship.' They say, 'This government appointed all three of them, and they simply keep saying yes to everything.' By Patra's reading, disagreement within the commission validates its independence rather than undermining it.

Attack on the Opposition's 'Vote Chori' Allegation

Patra directly addressed Opposition allegations of 'vote chori' (vote theft), focusing on the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process — a voter roll exercise at the centre of the controversy. Referring to the same media report, he pointed to SIR-related voter deletions in West Bengal, saying the maximum deletions occurred in 20 Assembly seats — 'of which 13 were won by Mamata Banerjee's All India Trinamool Congress (TMC), one by the Indian National Congress (Congress), and six by the BJP.'

'If we (BJP) have stolen votes, then how did some other party win on these seats?' Patra asked. He also underlined that the SIR was initiated only after a unanimous decision by all three Election Commissioners — 'They were all on the same page,' he asserted.

Historical Election Record Cited

To rebut the broader claim of electoral manipulation, Patra noted that the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) had already won the 2014, 2019, and 2024 Lok Sabha elections before Gyanesh Kumar was appointed as Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and before the SIR process began. He also cited several state assembly victories in the same pre-appointment window as further evidence that the BJP's electoral track record predates any alleged institutional influence.

Congress Accused of 'Defaming Constitutional Institutions'

Patra levelled a broader political charge, arguing that since the Narendra Modi government first came to power in 2014, Opposition parties — and particularly the Congress — had systematically sought to delegitimise constitutional bodies after consecutive electoral defeats. 'They did not fall on a battlefield, but in the democratic arena. Their existence came under threat because they were not chosen by the people. After that, particularly the Congress party realised that it could not win elections, and so the biggest weapon in its hands was to 'kill the institutions of the country',' Patra claimed.

He added: 'This is not about benefiting the Bharatiya Janata Party, but about ensuring that even the poorest mother in the country continues to have strong faith in the Constitution.' Critics from the Opposition are likely to contest this framing, arguing that legitimate scrutiny of the ECI's internal processes is distinct from institutional delegitimisation.

What This Row Is About

The controversy stems from a media report — attributed to a leading newspaper — suggesting that two of the three Election Commissioners had formally objected to certain decisions made by the poll panel. The report has reignited a long-running political debate about the independence and composition of the ECI, particularly following legislative changes to the commissioners' appointment process. The BJP's response signals that the party intends to defend the commission's record aggressively rather than allow the narrative to settle around internal discord. How the ECI itself responds — and whether it addresses the media report directly — will be closely watched in the coming days.