IT division issue in letters to the Cabinet Secretary, Election Commission says.

New Delhi: Amid repeated claims on social media about “friction” within the Election Commission of India (ECI), the poll panel has once again clarified that the decisions on the SIR were taken unanimously. It also said that the letters written by two Election Commissioners to the Cabinet Secretary were “not related to any policy matter” or the IT division. The ECI has consistently rejected allegations of any “disagreement” inside the Commission, a claim that Opposition parties have used to demand the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.

The poll panel further explained that the letters sent to the Cabinet Secretary were connected to the functioning of an officer on deputation to the ECI. It said the work re-distribution orders issued by the officer were not actually carried out after the two Commissioners intervened, and the oversight of the IT division by the DEC was never withdrawn. In a bid to make it clear that there was no basis for any internal dispute, the ECI said the concerns raised by Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi in their letters had become infructuous.

“The internal distribution/allocation of the work has been continuing as per the arrangement contained in the earlier Office Order dated September 23, 2025,” the ECI said. It added that an office order had been issued on July 28, 2026 by an IAS officer of Additional Secretary rank, who was posted on deputation to the Election Commission, concerning internal work allocation. On July 29, 2026, the two Election Commissioners wrote separate letters to the Cabinet Secretary regarding that order and the officer’s conduct.

However, following a joint direction from the two Commissioners on July 30, 2026, the July 28 order was never implemented. Orissa POST – Odisha’s No.1 English Daily