New Delhi: Former Union Minister and Congress leader P. Chidambaram on Friday claimed that CEC Gyanesh Kumar is desperately trying to cover his tracks and reverse illegal decisions he made unilaterally in the name of the Election Commission.
In a post on X, Chidambaram said, “The letter dated 29-09-2026 of the Election Commission is actually a ‘confession’ by Mr Gyanesh Kumar… the S.I.R. left out many lakhs of genuine voters, and he has now directed that the ‘left out’ voters must be re-enrolled!”
The Congress leader’s fresh attack on the CEC follows the Election Commission’s decision on September 29 to remove the additional declaration to Form 6 (voter enrolment form) from its ECINET application portal in those states where the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls has concluded. The changes in the ECINET system came into effect on September 30.
Mounting a fresh attack against the CEC, Chidambaram said that control of the ECINet was centralised and the powers of the CEOs, DEOs and EROs were taken away.
He said that the EC letter dated September 29 amounted to a ‘confession’ by CEC Gyanesh Kumar that Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls resulted in many lakhs of voters being excluded in haste, and he has now directed that no negative decision should be taken ‘in haste’!
“Gyanesh Kumar spent several crores of rupees in excluding 13,30.00,000 voters, and he is now spending crores of rupees to include them,” said Chidambaram.
The Congress leader said that the CEC used the ECI to protect the BJP governments. Now, the BJP government is protecting Gyanesh Kumar by banning all protests and closing 11 Metro stations!
“What about the crores/lakhs of persons among the 13,30,00,000 who were unable to vote in the recent Assembly elections in Bihar, West Bengal, etc.? What about the affected voters whose appeals were allowed by the judges in West Bengal (93 per cent of the cases disposed of) and who were unable to vote in the West Bengal Assembly elections?” asked the Rajya Sabha MP from the Congress.
Chidambaram claimed that the decision taken by the CEC had exposed the fault lines in the poll body.
“Maharashtra chief electoral officer (CEO) has protested. Odisha CEO has applied for premature retirement. Karnataka CEO has ordered an enquiry into the bulk Form 7 applications mainly against Muslim voters. Bombay High Court has posed difficult questions to the ECI and the Maharashtra CEO. Other CEOs should speak now and expose the illegal directions and decisions,” wrote Chidambaram on X.
He said several judges appointed to hear Appeals in West Bengal have expressed frustration. “One judge has quit. The entire illegal S.I.R. is unravelling. Where is the original file in which the decision to conduct an S.I.R. was taken?”
(IANS)
