Congress Working Committee meets tomorrow: EC row, Opposition strategy on agenda | Political Pulse News
4 min readNew DelhiSep 28, 2026 09:05 PM IST
First published on: Sep 28, 2026 at 09:05 PM IST
As the Opposition seeks to step up pressure on the Election Commission (EC) following last week’s revelations of a divide in the poll panel over voter roll revision — first reported by The Indian Express — the Congress is likely to demand an inquiry and call for “action from the poll panel and the government”, sources said. The decision will be taken at a meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) on Tuesday.
“We will give everyone present at the meeting a chance to speak and will accordingly release a statement. But these inquiries and call for action are likely to be part of the CWC resolution on Tuesday,” said a Congress insider.
The Indian Express on September 23 reported that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had objected on record at least 14 times in 10 months to SIR-related decisions taken without their knowledge and glaring gaps in processes. In a four-page note issued after a meeting of the full Commission on Saturday, the poll panel announced nine decisions that addressed, point by point, several of the concerns recorded by Commissioners Sandhu and Joshi. However, it left several questions unanswered.
The INDIA bloc is scheduled to meet just a day after the CWC to chart out a joint plan for the Opposition on the EC issue. Top Opposition leaders will attend the meeting on Wednesday.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said the Congress takes the EC matter “seriously”. “This issue concerns the entire country, the existence of our democracy and the survival of our country. That is why we are very serious about this issue,” he told reporters on Monday.
He said the EC’s “own people have exposed them” and that even a “former Chief Secretary of Kerala has said that CEC himself told him to contest the election”. “This means that he is propagating the BJP’s philosophy and has become a BJP worker. Gyanesh Kumar should resign. We have to take action against him, even after his resignation,” said Kharge.
Opposition protests
The CWC meeting comes at a time when the Cockroach Janta Party has given a call for a Jantar Mantar-like protest in Mumbai on October 2 demanding Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation. The Opposition has also raised the demand, saying Kumar must step down.
Over the last few days, the Congress has held protests across the country demanding Kumar’s resignation. “The Congress has protested in 1000+ districts today. Mr. Gyanesh, this is just the beginning. The groundswell will only grow from here on. My advice to Modi-Shah, sack Gyanesh before the streets are filled with people rejecting your Vote Chori shenanigans,” Congress general secretary (organisation) K C Venugopal posted on X on Monday.
The Congress has protested in 1000+ districts today. Mr. Gyanesh, this is just the beginning. The groundswell will only grow from hereon.
My advice to Modi-Shah, sack Gyanesh before the streets are filled with people rejecting your Vote Chori shenanigans. pic.twitter.com/tecPL3ZYyl
— K C Venugopal (@kcvenugopalmp) September 28, 2026
The Opposition plans to move a motion in both Houses of Parliament to remove Kumar as CEC, with the parties learnt to be working together to draft a motion seeking advice from legal experts. In March, 63 Rajya Sabha MPs and 130 Lok Sabha MPs had moved a motion seeking Kumar’s removal. The motion was rejected by the chairs of both Houses on April 6. On April 24, the Opposition moved a fresh notice in the Rajya Sabha seeking the removal of Kumar for “acting in a partisan manner”. The notice remains pending before the Chairman.
