Naveen Patnaik‘s Biju Janata Dal has joined opposition parties in demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar amid outrage over allegations of irregularities in the conduct of the Special Intensive Revision of state/UT voter rolls.

Patnaik has sent Manas Mangraj and Sulata Deo to join protests that have erupted in central Delhi Tuesday, led by Congress MPs Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who were briefly detained by police before being released.

There is little love lost between the BJD and the Bharatiya Janata Party – in power at the centre and in Odisha – today, after the BJP thumped the BJP in the 2024 Assembly election, a loss the state party is now questioning. In the past, though, the BJD was a member of the BJP-led national alliance, i.e., from 1998-2009.

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Protests against CEC Kumar and the Election Commission have gathered pace since the Express’ report last month.

◆ Express investigation ◆

14 times in 10 months, two Election Commissioners objected on record to poll panel stepsFrom keeping them in the dark to adding new voters, deleting names, ECs Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi flagged "unauthorised, illegal" moves.Read the full story →

ECs knocked on Cabinet Secretary’s door over voter software integrityOver ten months, from November to August, the two Commissioners said so repeatedly and in writingRead the full story →

‘Illegal, unauthorised’: Election Commissioners objected to Form 6 changeThe section itself was not marked mandatory, but applicants could not proceed to submit the form without answering it.Read the full story →

8 emails in 7 days, but valid Goa voters still left out: EC’s flawed systemFor a Goan, being off the roll costs more than a vote: Dialysis to transplants, state health support scheme open only to voters.Read the full story →

After 13 crore names dropped from draft rolls, EC orders ‘left out’ voter driveForm 6, changes to which the two ECs had red-flagged, will be the re-entry route for those deleted, without the SIR question.Read the full story →

What Election Commission rift reveals: Cloud over its conductThere has been dissent within the Election Commission earlier but this one is very different.Read the full story →

An Express investigation found that Election Commissioners Vivek Joshi and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu had objected – formally and on record – 14 times in 10 months to the manner in which decisions were taken regarding the SIR.

Among the 14 points raised were the allegedly illegal modification of Form 6 – to include questions about the voter’s parents or grandparents – and a push to centralise control of the ECINET software that manages the lists.

BJD demands Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation

On Monday BJD spokesperson Lenin Mohanty told reporters in Bhubaneswar that Gyanesh Kumar “has no option but to resign (and) take moral responsibility”.  Mohanty insisted Kumar had to quit because he had “lied” about changes to Form 6 – that the alterations during the SIR had been approved by the Supreme Court.

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The court this week said it had not approved any modifications to Form 6 and sought a response from the EC and the government. “Now, Kumar has no option… as Gyanesh Kumar had lied that Form 6 was approved by the Supreme Court, he has no moral right to continue but to step down,” the BJD said in a statement.

BJD leader Lekhashree Samantsinghar underlined that demand, declaring voters across the country, including those in Odisha, had ‘lost trust in the EC’. “They (EC) must have done similar manipulation during the 2024 elections in Odisha by tampering with EVMs to make a particular party win the election,” Samantsinghar alleged.

INDIA bloc protests against CEC Gyanesh Kumar

Security was stepped up across the New Delhi district, and opposition MPs were stopped on the way, after which they sat on a dharna. After a face-off with the cops, they were removed from the spot and carried away in a bus.

Rahul Gandhi – also the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha – was joined by Trinamool Congress leader Derek O’brien and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav. Gandhi was seen adhering to Gen-Z lingo at the protest as he carried a poster that read: “Gyanesh, it’s done bro!” He posted the slogan on X, too, adding: “It’s time to resign”