Congress questions officer's role in EC IT wing, intensifies ECINet control row
New Delhi, Oct 3 (UNI) Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh on Saturday alleged that a senior Election Commission official whose conduct was questioned by Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi in separate letters to the Cabinet Secretary in July has subsequently emerged as a key official overseeing the poll panel's IT-related work, escalating the political controversy surrounding the ECINet voter-roll system and the functioning of the Election Commission.
In a post on social media platform X, Ramesh referred to a report published by a leading national daily which identified the officer as senior deputy election commissioner Maneesh Garg. "Instead of action being taken against him, the officer is now in charge of the responsibilities relating to the IT division," Ramesh alleged, arguing that the development raised fresh questions about the Election Commission's handling of its internal administrative arrangements.
The report said the July letters written separately by Sandhu and Joshi to Cabinet Secretary T V Somanathan concerned Garg's decision to alter the routing of files of Election Commission Director General (IT) Seema Khanna, thereby removing an established layer of oversight. According to the report, the arrangement had earlier involved Deputy Election Commissioner Sanjay Kumar, who was subsequently repatriated to his cadre in August.
The Election Commission's current officers directory lists Garg as a Senior Deputy Election Commissioner and Seema Khanna as Director General (IT). Ramesh alleged that the dispute began after Garg issued a work-allocation order on July 28 that altered the earlier reporting arrangement involving the IT division. "We now learn that since August, the officer himself has been given the power to oversee the IT division," he said, alleging that the Election Commission's subsequent clarification had failed to address this aspect of the matter.
The Election Commission, however, has rejected the interpretation that the July correspondence related to its policy or IT functioning. In its September 26 clarification, the poll panel said the letters sent to the Cabinet Secretary "were not related to any policy matter of the Commission or IT division but related to working of an officer on deputation to ECI". It also maintained that the work-redistribution orders "were not actually implemented after the orders of the two Commissioners" and that oversight of the IT division by a deputy election commissioner was "never actually withdrawn".
The controversy has assumed significance because it comes amid a wider dispute over ECINet, the Election Commission's digital platform for electoral-roll and election-related processes. Reports have highlighted concerns raised by Sandhu and Joshi over the centralisation of access to electoral-roll software and the manner in which technology systems are being used for additions, deletions and other changes to electoral rolls.
The two commissioners wrote separately to the Cabinet Secretary on July 29, according to reports. A report by The Indian Express also said the two commissioners had raised objections on multiple occasions over decisions and processes connected with electoral-roll management, including access to the digital systems used by field-level election officials.
The Election Commission has disputed interpretations that these differences represented a breakdown in its decision-making process, maintaining that its decisions have been taken collectively and unanimously. The latest report said the Cabinet Secretary subsequently forwarded the complaints to the Department of Personnel and Training. It also reported that following Sanjay Kumar's repatriation in August, Garg's responsibilities came to include work involving the routing of files from the Director General (IT) to the Commission.
These developments have prompted Ramesh to question whether the administrative changes have effectively altered the chain of oversight over the IT division. Ramesh linked the issue to the Opposition's broader allegations that the electoral-roll revision process has become excessively centralised. He alleged that restrictions on the access of Electoral Registration Officers to ECINet could affect their statutory role in taking decisions concerning additions and deletions from electoral rolls.
The Election Commission has maintained that field officers have role-based access to ECINet in accordance with their statutory responsibilities. In its September 26 clarification, the Commission announced that a committee headed by a senior deputy election commissioner and including an independent expert from an IIT or IIIT would review ECINet to ensure that the system complies with the relevant laws and rules. The Commission also said additional flexibility would be made operational wherever required by field officers and that new IT modules and portals would be examined by a committee of officers before being placed before the Commission for approval.
The dispute over the IT chain of command comes against the backdrop of the Election Commission's controversial Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and growing Opposition criticism of the technology infrastructure underpinning voter-list changes. The poll panel has rejected allegations of unilateral decision-making and has reiterated that decisions relating to the SIR were taken unanimously. The controversy has also acquired a judicial dimension.
The Supreme Court has agreed to hear a petition challenging aspects of the Election Commission's functioning under Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and questioning the decision-making process surrounding the SIR. The petition followed reports about objections raised by Sandhu and Joshi over various decisions concerning electoral-roll management. Ramesh, however, went beyond questioning the administrative arrangement and alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was aware of the matter because the complaints had reached the Department of Personnel and Training, for which the Prime Minister has ministerial responsibility.
He further alleged, without presenting independent evidence in his post, that the continued role of the officer reflected an effort by Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and the Prime Minister to retain "centralised control over the entire system". "It appears that the Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and the PM himself have kept the particular officer in place to retain their centralised control over the entire system," Ramesh alleged. He added:
"The Vote Chori operation is becoming clearer by the day." The Election Commission has not endorsed those allegations and has instead sought to address concerns over ECINet through a technical review, while reiterating that statutory field officers retain role-based access to the system. The latest dispute therefore centres on competing accounts of the July work-allocation order, the letters sent by Sandhu and Joshi to the Cabinet Secretary, the subsequent allocation of responsibilities after Sanjay Kumar's repatriation, and the extent of administrative oversight over the Commission's IT division.
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