The opposition parties and sections of the media step up their attacks on Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR). Now, former Kerala Chief Secretary Jiji Thomson has entered the fray with a claim about Kumar’s alleged political links, as reported in OpIndia.
On 26 September 2026, while speaking to a local media outlet, Thomson claimed that in 2016, when Gyanesh Kumar was an IAS officer, he had tried to persuade Thomson to contest the 2019 Lok Sabha election as a BJP candidate from Pathanamthitta.
Thomson claimed that he met Kumar on a flight to Delhi in 2016. According to Thomson, Kumar spoke highly of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and asked whether he would be interested in contesting the 2019 general election on a BJP ticket from Pathanamthitta.
Thomson said Kumar was highly persuasive and suggested that if he won, he could become an MP and later a Union Cabinet Minister. Thomson claimed that he immediately declined the alleged offer.
The allegation has since been used by Congress to attack Gyanesh Kumar. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi cited Thomson’s claim while accusing Kumar of having first been involved in recruiting for the BJP and later being appointed as the “umpire” overseeing India’s elections.
In an X post on September 26, Gandhi wrote, “First, Gyanesh Kumar – then a serving IAS officer – was used to recruit for the BJP. Then Modi and Shah made him the umpire and put him in charge of match-fixing India’s elections.”
First, Gyanesh Kumar – then a serving IAS officer – was used to recruit for the BJP.
Then Modi and Shah made him the umpire and put him in charge of match-fixing India’s elections. https://t.co/hvdhEfoVgg
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) September 26, 2026
Thomson’s allegation has emerged at a time when the Opposition has been accusing the Election Commission of using SIR to manipulate electoral rolls and alleging that Gyanesh Kumar is acting in favour of the BJP.
The timing of the allegation has also raised questions over why Thomson did not publicly disclose the alleged interaction in 2016, when the conversation supposedly took place, or when Gyanesh Kumar became Chief Election Commissioner.
With Thomson now becoming a prominent voice in the latest controversy surrounding Gyanesh Kumar, his own background and past controversies have also come under renewed scrutiny.
Who Is Jiji Thomson?
Jiji Thomson is a 1980-batch Kerala cadre IAS officer with degrees in Economics. He served as Kerala Chief Secretary from January 2015 to February 29, 2016, under the Congress-led United Democratic Front government.
Before becoming Chief Secretary, Thomson served as the Managing Director of the Kerala Civil Supplies Corporation.
After retirement, he went on to serve as the Managing Director of the Bharat Bhaavika Foundation.
Thomson belongs to the Malankara Orthodox Church.
During his long career, Thomson has been associated with several controversies, legal proceedings and political disputes.
Palmolein Imports Graft Case
One of the major controversies involving Thomson dates back to the 1991 Palmolein imports case.
Thomson was serving as Managing Director of the Kerala Civil Supplies Corporation under the K. Karunakaran-led UDF government when he was named as an accused in the case concerning alleged irregularities in the import of 15,000 tonnes of palmolein from Malaysia through a Singapore-based company.
The import was allegedly carried out at an inflated price, with the case involving an alleged loss of around ₹2.32 crore.
Thomson maintained that the import was a Cabinet decision that he had merely implemented.
The controversy occurred when K. Karunakaran was Chief Minister and Oommen Chandy was the Finance Minister.
The case remains pending before the Supreme Court, and Thomson’s half pension was withheld pending resolution of the matter.
In May 2016, the Supreme Court rejected petitions filed by Jiji Thomson, P.J. Thomas and T.H. Mustafa seeking dismissal of the Palmolein imports case.
Before that, Thomson’s plea seeking to stop further proceedings until the Supreme Court disposed of his Special Leave Petition had been rejected by the Kerala High Court. Other similar pleas had also been rejected by lower and higher courts.
‘Spread the Gospel’ Remarks
Another controversy erupted in 2015, when Thomson was serving as Kerala Chief Secretary.
During the bicentenary celebrations of the Orthodox Theological Seminary in Kottayam, Thomson delivered a speech on the role of the Church and the spread of Christianity.
Thomson said that spreading the Gospel was the core mission of the Church and described bringing non-Christians to Christ as a “Biblical imperative”.
He also spoke about personal evangelism, church evangelism and mass evangelism.
“Bringing others to God is a Biblical imperative. The biggest mission of the Christian church now is spreading the gospel,” he said.
“Gospel means Go and Spel. They are personal evangelism, church evangelism and mass evangelism. Everyone can do personal evangelism. For that there is no need for clergy…”
The remarks were made in the presence of then Kerala Governor and retired Supreme Court Justice P. Sathasivam.
The speech triggered criticism from sections of the Hindu community, who accused the serving Chief Secretary of making what they described as anti-Constitutional remarks and demanded his removal from government service.
Cabinet Rank Appointment Ahead of Retirement
In February 2016, shortly before his retirement, the Congress-led UDF government appointed Thomson as an adviser to then Chief Minister Oommen Chandy.
The appointment came with Cabinet rank.
The government had also unsuccessfully attempted to secure a three-month extension for Thomson.
The decision to grant Cabinet rank to Thomson drew criticism from the Opposition, particularly because another former Home Secretary, L. Radhakrishnan, who was already serving as an adviser to the Chief Minister, had not been given Cabinet rank.
The Opposition questioned the UDF government’s decision to provide what it described as a plum position to Thomson immediately before his retirement.
₹1.35 Crore Official Residence Renovation Controversy
In August 2016, the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau initiated an investigation into the renovation of Thomson’s official residence.
The probe followed a complaint filed by the All-Kerala Government Contractors’ Association, which alleged that ₹1.35 crore had been spent on renovating the official residence even as the government had sanctioned the construction of another facility for him.
Following the complaint, the Vigilance team inspected the residence.
The expenditure on the renovation subsequently became another issue surrounding Thomson after his retirement as Chief Secretary.
Honey-Trap Controversy
Thomson was also alleged to be involved in a controversial honey-trap episode in 2017.
A leaked audio recording containing conversations with sexual undertones involving former Tehelka editor Mathew Samuel and a woman associate led to allegations that Thomson had been targeted in a honey-trap operation.
The conversations were reported to have originated from a sting operation conducted by the news portal in 2015.
The controversy triggered claims that Thomson had been honey-trapped and had allegedly paid ₹5 crore to suppress the material.
Hindu rights organisation Hanuman Sena subsequently filed a complaint against Thomson, alleging that he had been honey-trapped and blackmailed and had paid the alleged amount.
The allegations surrounding the episode became another controversy associated with Thomson after his retirement.
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