Election Commission calls viral resignation letter of CEC Gyanesh Kumar fake, AI generated

A letter purportedly showing Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar resigning and addressed to President Droupadi Murmu spread rapidly on social media, but the Election Commission has clarified that the letter is fake. The Commission said no such decision was taken, and the viral letter was AI generated, meaning created using artificial intelligence. According to a Commission spokesperson, the fake letter carried what appeared to be the Chief Election Commissioner's signature and was addressed to President Murmu, but people have been urged not to trust such false letters.

The viral letter read, "This decision has been taken after careful introspection and deliberation. I am grateful to the Government of India and the citizens of this great nation for the trust placed in me. It has been an honour to serve the world's largest democracy and to uphold the independence and impartiality of the Election Commission."

The controversy comes after a report had claimed that there were differences between the election commissioners and the Chief Election Commissioner over the Special Intensive Revision, or SIR, process. The report said objections had been raised before the Chief Election Commissioner on several occasions but were not acted upon, and questions were also raised about the process itself. According to the report, election commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had formally recorded objections at least 14 times over the past 10 months regarding decisions and orders related to the SIR, as these decisions and orders were issued without their knowledge or recommendation. These objections concerned issues such as changes to voter registration Form 6, the process for adding and deleting names from the voter list, and centralised control over the voter list database.

Following these reports, the Election Commission denied any differences among the three commissioners. The Commission said decisions related to the revision of voter lists are always taken by consensus, and that differences of opinion should not be treated as conflict. The Commission also said the changes made to Form 6, used for the inclusion of names in the voter list, have already been approved by the Supreme Court. The Commission said several decisions, including on the SIR, have been taken across the country in recent months. On June 24, 2025, the Commission had ordered the rollout of the SIR starting with Bihar and extending to West Bengal and 30 other states and union territories, and this order had been approved unanimously.

Following the reports of differences among the commissioners and the SIR process, the Congress and several other opposition parties questioned the Commission's functioning and demanded Gyanesh Kumar's resignation. The opposition also warned of taking the matter to the Supreme Court and demanded that the SIR be halted and the previous election be held again.

The Cockroach Janata Party has also entered the fray. The party has put forward three demands and said it will launch an agitation if they are not met. The party's founder, Abhijeet Deepke, has warned that if Gyanesh Kumar does not resign, an agitation will begin in Mumbai from October 2. However, the Mumbai Police have not yet granted permission for the agitation. The Cockroach Janata Party's demands are that Kumar resign, the SIR be halted, and the entire process be investigated.