Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh has demanded that voting be elevated to a fundamental right, alleging that citizens’ access to the franchise is under strain and accusing Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar of presiding over an Election Commission that has lost public confidence. Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Ramesh said the moment had arrived to move beyond the present legal position, under which voting is treated as a statutory entitlement governed by election law rather than a fundamental right enforceable in the same manner as freedoms expressly protected under Part III of the Constitution. His remarks sharpened the Opposition’s continuing attack on the poll body at a time when electoral rolls, postal ballots, voter deletions and the independence of constitutional institutions have become recurring flashpoints.
Ramesh accused the Election Commission of being “compromised” under Kumar, a charge that the poll body and the government have consistently rejected in similar political disputes. The Congress leader said Opposition parties would continue efforts to seek the Chief Election Commissioner’s removal, framing the demand as part of a wider campaign to defend electoral integrity rather than a dispute limited to one official.
Kumar took charge as the 26th Chief Election Commissioner on February 19, 2025, succeeding Rajiv Kumar. A 1988-batch officer from the Kerala cadre, he had earlier served as Election Commissioner and held senior administrative posts before joining the poll body. His appointment came under the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners Act, 2023, which created a selection panel comprising the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha and a Union Cabinet minister.
The legal question raised by Ramesh goes to the heart of India’s electoral framework. Article 326 provides for elections to the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies on the basis of universal adult suffrage, but courts have repeatedly distinguished that constitutional foundation from an individual fundamental right to vote. Several Supreme Court rulings have held that the right to vote flows from statute, principally the Representation of the People Act, while the act of expressing a choice through voting has been linked in some judgments to freedom of expression.
Making voting a fundamental right would require a major constitutional and legislative shift. Supporters argue that such a change would strengthen remedies for wrongful deletions, denial of postal ballots, inaccessible polling arrangements and administrative failures that prevent eligible citizens from casting ballots. Critics are likely to argue that the current framework already gives Parliament and courts sufficient tools to regulate elections, while a fundamental-right model could draw courts more deeply into the management of polls.
The debate has gained fresh political weight after disputes over voter lists and postal ballots. On Tuesday, the Kerala High Court expressed concern over claims that nearly 20,000 government employees on election duty were not issued postal ballots, observing that such a lapse, if established, would be serious given the Election Commission’s constitutional duty to protect voting access. The Commission told the court that revised rules required such voters to use designated facilitation centres, not the earlier postal ballot route.
Opposition criticism has also been shaped by broader allegations over electoral-roll revisions and the functioning of the Commission in states heading towards high-stakes Assembly contests. Parties opposed to the BJP have accused the poll body of failing to act with equal firmness against ruling-party leaders and of permitting administrative processes that could affect marginal voters, migrants and low-income households. The Commission has maintained that roll revision, deletions and corrections are governed by procedure, public notices and appeal mechanisms.
Ramesh’s intervention places the Congress demand within a longer constitutional argument. Voter eligibility in India is tied to citizenship, age, residence and statutory disqualifications, with the voting age reduced from 21 to 18 through the 61st Constitutional Amendment. Yet the practical ability to vote depends on accurate rolls, accessible polling stations, functioning identification procedures and transparent grievance redressal. A fundamental-right guarantee, Congress argues, would raise the standard of accountability when administrative action prevents eligible citizens from voting.
The political stakes are high because confidence in the electoral process remains central to the legitimacy of governments at every level. The Election Commission has conducted elections involving hundreds of millions of voters and is often cited internationally for the scale of its operations. Under Kumar, the poll body has emphasised roll purification, technology use, stakeholder meetings and capacity-building measures, including outreach to political parties and election officials.