‘One poll’ panel summons HC advocate in place of CEC

In the change of agenda for its meeting on Thursday, the joint parliamentary committee on One Nation, One Election (ONOE) has summoned J Sai Deepak, a senior advocate of the Delhi High Court, instead of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.

Apart from Deepak, representatives of the 23rd Law Commission of India will be interacting with the joint panel. Kumar, who is in Sweden, on Wednesday assumed chairship of the Council of Member States of International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IIDEA) for 2026. Earlier, he had been summoned for Thursday’s meeting by the committee.

Kumar takes charge as head of IIDEA council

In Sweden, CEC Gyanesh Kumar, who took over IIDEA council chairship on Wednesday, highlighted the scale of India’s democratic exercise, noting that India has over 900 million electors across 28 states and eight UTs. Reflecting upon the 2024 elections, he said India witnessed a breathtaking democratic spectacle where over 20,000 candidates from 743 political parties.

Though Kumar’s visit to Sweden was already scheduled, it was being speculated that some other officials from the Election Commission will depose before the joint panel.

Incidentally, Kumar is currently facing the brunt of the Opposition’s ire over the ongoing special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in nine states and three union territories, amid allegations of vote theft and mass deletion of names from voters’ lists.