New Delhi: As the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting got underway on Tuesday, former Lok Sabha Speaker and Congress leader Meira Kumar said the party’s strategy on the Election Commission row would be formulated during the meeting. She also said that Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar “will have to go”.
Congress leaders, including Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, along with chief ministers of Congress-ruled states and other senior leaders, are attending the CWC meeting.
Speaking to IANS, Meira Kumar said, “The strategy will be formulated today during the CWC meeting, and the rest will be discussed after sitting down with our partners in the INDIA Bloc. But Gyanesh Kumar will have to go, and his removal is extremely necessary.”
AICC in-charge for West Bengal, Prakash Joshi, also criticised the CEC, saying, “The final strategy will emerge only after today’s Working Committee meeting. But it is a fact that the kind of criminal acts Gyanesh Kumar was continuously committing fall under the category of treason, and not only should he face prosecution, but his place is in jail.”
The Congress has raised concerns over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, changes related to Form 6 for enrolling new voters, additions and deletions from voter lists, and centralised control over the electoral-roll database.
Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge has said that concerns raised by two Election Commissioners had “exposed” the functioning of the poll panel and called for action against Kumar.
Meanwhile, the Opposition INDIA Bloc is expected to meet on Wednesday to discuss a joint strategy on the issue and may submit another notice in Parliament seeking the removal of the CEC.
The Election Commission, however, has rejected concerns over internal decision-making, saying that differing views and observations are a normal part of deliberations within an institution. The poll panel has maintained that its orders carry legal sanction and follow established statutory procedures.
On September 26, the Election Commission said that the nationwide SIR order had received unanimous approval from all three commissioners, CEC Gyanesh Kumar and Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi. It also said that changes related to Form 6 had been upheld by the Supreme Court.
The controversy follows reports of differences within the poll panel over aspects of the SIR exercise and electoral-roll procedures. The issue has since become a major point of contention between the Congress-led Opposition and the Election Commission, with Opposition parties demanding greater scrutiny of the process.
(IANS)
