New Delhi, Sept. 23 -- The Opposition on Wednesday launched a sharp attack on Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, demanding his impeachment and arrest and alleging that the poll panel under him was functioning as a "one-man autocracy".
A political storm erupted after a report in The Indian Express claimed that two Election Commissioners had raised objections 14 times over 10 months to decisions affecting the electoral process.
Two Election Commissioners, Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi, flagged issues relating to the deletion and addition of names to electoral rolls under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) and raised objections to the decision-making process at least 14 times over the past 10 months, according to the report.
Opposition parties, which have been critical of the EC over the SIR of electoral rolls, seized on the report to demand immediate impeachment proceedings against CEC Kumar in Parliament.
The Congress dubbed the row "Gyaneshgate", while the Trinamool Congress led by Mamata Banerjee demanded CEC Kumar's impeachment and fresh assembly elections in West Bengal using the voter list that existed before the Special Intensive Revision (SIR).
Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi reiterated his "vote chori" charge against the EC, terming it an act of treason and a crime against the people of India.
"The BJP, RSS and EC who organised it have committed an act of treason. Justice will be served," Gandhi said.
"It has now been proven that the BJP and the EC looted the West Bengal assembly polls," former West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee alleged in a Facebook live. "Re-election must be held in West Bengal with the old voter list," she added.
Banerjee said INDIA bloc partners had discussed the matter and would meet soon. She also called for nationwide protests as long as Kumar remained CEC.
Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray and AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal demanded that CEC Gyanesh Kumar be jailed and immediately removed from his post.
"Impeach CEC to save democracy," TMC (Mamata faction) MP Derek O'Brien said.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said that in April, 73 Opposition Rajya Sabha MPs had submitted a fresh Notice of Motion to the Secretary General seeking the removal of CEC Kumar. "The Monsoon Session of Parliament has not yet been prorogued. Will the Hon'ble Rajya Sabha Chairman now decide on that pending Notice?" Kharge said, adding that the country will demand answers from Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Congress general secretary in-charge of communications Jairam Ramesh, however, alleged that CEC Kumar had functioned as a "hatchet man" for Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who, in turn, was the designated executor of the PM's wishes.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said the central government and Election Commission needed to take corrective steps to prevent people from losing faith in the electoral process. Thackeray demanded that CEC Gyanesh Kumar be jailed and that the recent elections in Maharashtra, West Bengal and Tamil Nadu be nullified and repolls held in these states using ballot papers.
"Gyanesh Kumar should be immediately sacked and jailed," the former Maharashtra chief minister said, thanking the ECs for "exposing" Kumar.
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav said in Lucknow that governments formed during a period when the Election Commission was not functioning impartially were "unconstitutional", and that "interference" with the poll panel amounted to "trampling" democracy.
"This means that the governments which have been formed during this period are unconstitutional governments," Yadav said. Senior Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi said there was no doubt remaining that Gyanesh Kumar had no right to remain in office and must resign. He said this was a serious issue and an example of "double bulldozer sarkar".
"An external bulldozer works against institutions and internal bulldozer is the CEC who has bulldozed his own organisation and his own colleagues and has hijacked the EC," Singhvi said.
In a statement, the CPI(M) Politburo said the revelations raised serious questions not just about the process, but more importantly about the integrity of the ECI itself.
CPI(M) MP John Brittas said this was no longer an Election Commission, but a "one-man autocracy" under CEC Kumar. Parliament must immediately start the process for the removal of the CEC, he said.
CPI general secretary D Raja said CEC Gyanesh Kumar must resign over the "electoral purge". TMC's Abhishek Banerjee demanded the removal of CEC Kumar and sought a court-monitored investigation into the functioning of the poll panel.
"The CEC must be removed immediately and a court-monitored investigation ordered," he said. He alleged that "disenfranchising lakhs of voters to allegedly benefit one political party strikes at the very foundation of our democracy", and said those responsible must be held accountable.
Kejriwal too demanded that the entire SIR exercise be cancelled and that CEC Kumar be immediately arrested, alleging that he was running the Election Commission on his own and making the SIR carried out across the country "illegal".
"So today, we demand that the entire SIR process be cancelled, that all changes made under SIR be cancelled, and that the voter list from three years ago be restored," the AAP chief said. Kumar should be arrested and a case of sedition registered against him, he added.
Addressing a press conference at the BJP headquarters here, party spokesperson Sambit Patra said, "The media reports saying that the election commissioners shared differing views in official deliberations is a reflection of pure democracy."
"If there is no communication and exchange of views among the election commissioners who conduct polls, the opposition parties would allege 'dictatorship' and call them 'yes men' of the government," he charged. Meanwhile, the Election Commission asserted that all its official orders, decisions and administrative directions carry full legal sanctions and that differing views and observations are a normal part of deliberation in any institution.
It said suggestions from the commissioners were aimed at improving electoral processes and maintained that the final decisions of the full commission, including those relating to the SIR, were unanimous. Neither Sandhu nor Joshi has publicly spoken about the objections attributed to them.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.