New Delhi: Opposition parties on Wednesday hit out at Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and the BJP-led Central government, alleging that the electoral process has been “undermined” during their regime, and sought the Supreme Court’s intervention after a media report claimed that two Election Commissioners had “objected on record” to several decisions taken by the poll panel, allegedly without their knowledge.
The Election Commission of India (ECI) has denied the report.
Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav accused the ECI of attempting to “weaken” democracy.
“An institution meant to be impartial has ceased to be so…Who is tampering with a constitutional body in this manner just to cling to power? This implies that the governments formed during this period are unconstitutional,” he said at a press conference.
CPI-M General Secretary M.A. Baby sought the resignation of CEC Gyanesh Kumar, saying: “He has no right to continue now.”
Earlier in the day, AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal had also demanded the same and even sought the cancellation of the polls held in the last few years.
Trinamool Congress MP (Mamata faction) Saugata Roy called the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls a “bad thing”.
“Because of the SIR, many genuine voters are being removed. If members of the Election Commission have raised objections to it, that is a good thing. The Central government should take a decision on this matter,” Roy told IANS.
PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti alleged that voters are being added and deleted from the electoral rolls, according to the BJP’s will.
“If this continues, there is a danger that at some point our country, which is the world’s largest democracy, could come to resemble a banana republic,” she told reporters.
Congress leader and former Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat also claimed that in the name of SIR, voters are being added and deleted from the electoral rolls “at the direction of those in power”.
“Voters are being assessed based on their political inclination, and if they are voters who support the Opposition, their names are being deleted. And if they are people who support those in power, even if they are not voters or are coming from somewhere else, their names are being added. So, the entire system is in danger at this time. It is a matter of concern for democracy,” he told IANS.
Echoing a similar view, Congress leader T. S. Singh Deo said: “It no longer seems surprising to hear this because the Election Commission appeared to be working with its eyes closed or in a very calculated manner to destroy the entire system.”
Congress leader Sandeep Dikshit added: “This shows that our Chief Election Commissioner is working absolutely like an emperor, in total dictatorship. Not only that, his entire process is illegal and unconstitutional. This raises a very big question that the entire electoral process, under him, has been completely undermined.”
Samajwadi Party MP Rajeev Kumar Rai also said: “What we have been saying is being proved right that the person sitting as the Chief Election Commissioner is murdering democracy.”
Purnia MP Pappu Yadav echoed a similar view, accusing the Election Commission of “murdering” democracy and the Constitution.
Moreover, he urged the Supreme Court to immediately dissolve the Election Commission.
Congress leader and former Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan also appealed to the Supreme Court to intervene and take suo motu cognisance of this matter.
“All the Election Commissioners should be called before the Court,” he told IANS.
According to Shiv Sena-UBT MP Sanjay Raut, Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi “have done the biggest work to save democracy”.
“Gyanesh Kumar is doing illegal work within the Election Commission and outside as well. How these people (BJP) won the elections in West Bengal and Bihar has now come to light. They won with the help of Gyanesh Kumar’s criminal activities. The changes made in Form 6 regarding SSR are illegal,” he alleged while speaking to IANS.
Meanwhile, Congress MP Imran Masood said that the ECI’s statement refuting the media report is “completely misleading”.
“If the decisions were taken unanimously, then how is it that two out of three people are saying something which is different from the third?” he asked.
(IANS)
