Union cabinet minister Chirag Paswan asks Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar to clear doubts over EC, SIR

Published on: Sep 25, 2026, 17:26:18 IST

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As the Opposition continues to demand that Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar step down in light of recent revelations about dissent in the poll panel, Union cabinet minister Chirag Paswan also went public with his concerns. Speaking to , he said that he was asking the CEC to clear serious concerns in the common citizen’s mind. He also said that what the Opposition was voicing today could also become his party’s future concern.

What concerns you about this EC controversy?

I have very clear stand on this. I’m not concerned about what the Opposition is saying. Opposition, most of the time, they try to create issues out of nothing. My concern is that repeatedly, one after the other, if the fingers are being raised against Election Commission, it is the responsibility of the Election Commission itself to defend themselves. I, as a political party, cannot defend an independent constitutional body. I don’t have that right, I don’t have those permissions. I don’t have that access to the internal agreements, disagreements. This is only known by the Chief Election Commissioner, and if the fingers are being raised, then he should defend himself. He should defend the whole Election Commission. And my biggest concern is that not even an iota percent of suspicion should come in a normal citizen’s mind concerning the whole election process, because this is the beauty of democracy. India being one of the largest democracies, Election Commission plays a very, very important role. So here lies the responsibility of the Election Commission, which is headed by CEC, to make sure that not even a single citizen of our country has iota percent of doubt over the working of the Election Commission body.

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But it’s been 3 days since these concerns have arisen. Are you worried?

Of course, I am worried. I am worried every time these concerns are raised, and they do get amplified by the Opposition parties, Opposition leaders. If these questions are coming time and again, the Election Commission has to come out and press conferences, they have given statements, but now since this is going a little out of proportion. As a political party, when these questions are asked of me, I cannot defend the Election Commission because it is an independent constitutional body.

Did you raise this with your allies?

No, why should I? I mean, I have my own party, and when asked these questions, I have media as a platform to convey this to the Election Commission. It’s their responsibility to come clean. They have done this in the past as well. Especially important now, you know, when there is talk of impeachment (by Opposition).

BJP has done press conferences attacking Opposition on this, however. Are you not afraid that this has tainted your election victory?

If SIR would have been the only reason for us winning, I would have won 29 out of 29 seats. We had this target of 400 plus in Lok Sabha election, why did we not reach our target? It’s a long time after general elections, for the first time that BJP couldn’t reach that mandate. This is the reason why that I know that this is not right.

You said about then you would have got 400. But in Bihar elections, despite the 15 years of anti-incumbency, despite all expectations, there was a sweep?

I would want to give this credit to the work that we have done, the kind of mehnat (hard work) that we have done. But then if that is coming under a cloud, then again, it is for the Election Commission to decide (it’s response).

Would you admit this controversy has created doubts for voters about the entire SIR process?

My concern is that if EC is coming under question, so they should come out and defend themselves. And it is for them to clarify the whole situation. It is not for me. I am also one of the political party as many other Opposition parties, right? If today Opposition is having concerns, tomorrow I might be having issues with the Election Commission’s working because it is an independent constitutional body. We are all equal, when we are talking to Election Commission. But then if these questions are being raised and we, (by we I mean current government) we look like parties, it is not for us to comment on this. It is for them to defend themselves.

Do you think CEC should resign if reports of dissent are true?

I have no idea. I dont have access to their internal meetings, right? So, I have no idea. I am not going to react to what the Opposition is saying. I am just going to react to what the people of the country, the citizens are thinking about this.

Recently, you raised another concern about UCC. Is that also a problem for you as an independent party?

What I said about UCC was that until and unless the Law Commission doesn’t come out with a draft, I cant just be talking in thin air about all these things. The commission needs to come out with a draft and then only we’ll understand that what UCC is planning.

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