- Former Kerala Chief Secretary Jiji Thomson alleged Gyanesh Kumar urged him to contest 2019 polls for BJP
- Thomson claimed the conversation happened on a 2016 flight when both were IAS officers in Kerala cadre
- Congress' Rahul Gandhi accused Kumar of recruiting on behalf of the BJP before heading the Election Commission
Former Kerala Chief Secretary Jiji Thomson has alleged that Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, while serving as an IAS officer, asked him whether he was interested in contesting the 2019 Lok Sabha election as a BJP candidate from Pathanamthitta in the state.
Thomson made the claim on local media as the Election Commission and Gyanesh Kumar face massive controversy over the handling of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and allegations of differences within the three-member poll panel. Thomson's account concerns a conversation he claims took place during a flight to Delhi in 2016, when he was serving as Kerala's Chief Secretary and Kumar was a Kerala-cadre IAS officer.
"I was serving as the Kerala Chief Secretary then. We were together on a flight. He was waxing eloquent about Prime Minister Modi and openly asked me if I was interested in contesting as a BJP candidate from Pathanamthitta in the 2019 general elections. He was very persuasive, I declined it promptly," local newspaper Manorama quoted him as saying.
Congress' Anto Antony won the Pathanamthitta Lok Sabha seat in 2019 while Veena George of the CPI(M) came second. BJP's Pathanamthitta pick was K Surendran who finished third with a 28.95 per cent vote share.
READ | Gyanesh Kumar, Election Commissioners Meet, Poll Body Issues Clarifications
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi responded by accusing Kumar of having been involved in recruiting for the BJP before subsequently being appointed as the official overseeing elections.
"Gyanesh Kumar - then a serving IAS officer - was used to recruit for the BJP," Gandhi wrote on social media.
Kumar has not responded to the allegations.
Kumar became the 26th Chief Election Commissioner in February 2025. A Kerala-cadre officer of the 1988 IAS batch, he completed a BTech in Civil Engineering at IIT Kanpur. In 2016, Kumar was Resident Commissioner of the Kerala government in Delhi. Oommen Chandy was the Chief Minister of Kerala at the time and had appointed him.
READ | Congress, BJP And Allies' Backing: Politics Follows Poll Body's Clarification
Thomas also recalled another episode from earlier in his career when he had been approached by people about entering politics.
"Although I had declined the offer at that time also, Gyanesh came to know about it and tried to persuade me to enter politics," he claimed.
Opposition parties have been demanding Kumar's resignation and have held protests in different parts of the country. Their demands intensified after an Indian Express report said the other two Election Commissioners -- Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi --had repeatedly raised objections on record concerning decisions taken by the Commission.
READ | Amid Delhi SIR Row, Deadline For Claims, Objections Extended To October 30
The report said the objections covered aspects of the SIR process, including changes to the statutory Form 6, handling of additions and deletions from electoral rolls and centralised control over the voter database.
Election Commission Rejects Allegations
On Saturday, the Election Commission said decisions concerning SIR had received the unanimous approval of all three Commissioners. It also said that the changes to Form 6 used for voter enrolment had been upheld by the Supreme Court. The statement followed a meeting attended by Kumar and the two Election Commissioners, Sandhu and Joshi.
The Commission said letters sent by Sandhu and Joshi to Cabinet Secretary TV Somanathan concerned an officer on deputation and did not relate to policy or IT division matters.
READ | INDIA Bloc To Meet On September 30, Removing Gyanesh Kumar Main Agenda
The Indian Express had reported that the two Commissioners had separately written to the Cabinet Secretary after a work allocation order within the Commission. The newspaper had also reported that Sandhu and Joshi had objected at least 14 times over a 10-month period to decisions and orders concerning SIR that they said had been issued without their knowledge or recommendation.
The Political Fallout
The BJP and its allies claimed the Election Commission's clarification had addressed the concerns and exposed allegations by the Congress based. BJP president Nitin Nabin claimed the opposition had again been exposed for misleading the public about SIR.
"The Election Commission has made it clear that every decision relating to the SIR was taken unanimously by the full Commission. Yet, Congress chose to build its allegations around a manufactured lie and attack our constitutional bodies," he posted on social media.
Union Minister Chirag Paswan, whose Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) -- an ally of the BJP -- had said on Friday that public faith in elections was at stake and urged the Commission to address concerns, said the poll body had now clarified its position on the key issues.
READ | Nationwide SIR Order Was Unanimous, Upheld By Top Court: Poll Body Amid Gyanesh Kumar Row
INDIA bloc parties are likely to meet in Delhi on September 30 to discuss their strategy.
Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee said she had sent a message to Rahul Gandhi proposing that opposition parties meet.
"I sent a message to Rahul Gandhi, and told him that we must sit together. A meeting of the INDIA bloc will most likely be held in Delhi's Constitution Club on September 30," she said.
CPI(M) general secretary MA Baby has also written to opposition leaders, including Banerjee, over the issue.
