India
ECI Adds Oversight on IT Director Amid Internal Dissent Dispute
The Election Commission of India (ECI) issued a work order on November 4 that places IT Director General Seema Khanna under the supervision of Senior Deputy Election Commissioner Pawan Kumar Sharma. The order also assigns Deputy Election Commissioner Prakash Rajpurohit a supporting role in election planning.
Under the new directive, Khanna will submit files from her functional divisions – IT/ICT and the public grievance redressal system (PGRS) – to Sharma. The order describes her responsibilities as IT/ICT and grievance/PGRS. Khanna has been at the center of controversy over allegations that the ECI centralised digital voter roll infrastructure and implemented software restrictions to prevent state officials from accessing voting lists.
Senior Deputy Election Commissioner Maneesh Garg, who issued a controversial order on July 28, retains election planning duties but will be assisted by Rajpurohit, who also oversees delimitation. The order states that Rajpurohit will be supported by DEC (PR). In addition, Sharma will handle political parties, election expenditure policy, the observer division, and coordination, and will oversee the North East‑II, East‑II and South‑II zones.
Garg continues to manage election planning, EVMs and the Election Database Management Division, as well as the East‑I zone (Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh) and North‑III zone (Uttar Pradesh). Deputy Election Commissioner Bhanu Prakash Yeturu will look after administration, establishment, electoral rolls and RTI, while Rajpurohit will forward election planning files through Garg.
A senior EC official told Hindustan Times that the new order is not a reversal of the July 28 order, which was never implemented because a July 30 direction recalled the changes. The order was a unanimous decision by the poll panel.
The work order follows letters from election commissioners SS Sandhu and Vivek Joshi to cabinet secretary TV Somanathan on July 29, expressing concerns about file routing and lack of consultation. The commissioners had noted that Garg had given additional charge of the Administration Division on July 28, while DEC Bhanu Prakash Yeturu was on leave until August 9, and that a work‑allocation order covering officers senior and equivalent to him was issued within hours.
The controversy centers on Khanna’s IT department, which an Indian Express investigation said had implemented a new IT protocol that shut the database of electors from the Electoral Registration Officials (EROs) responsible for adding or deleting names. The ECI denies allegations of differences among election commissioners and says all decisions were unanimous or taken by majority in accordance with the rules.
The dispute has sparked protests by activists, the Cockroach Janta Party and the parliamentary opposition, leading to police action and a heightened security presence in the capital. The opposition seeks the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and the scrapping of the controversial special intensive revision, while the BJP accuses the opposition of attempting to destabilise constitutional bodies.