Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Sept 23: The opposition parties on Wednesday sought the removal of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar after a media report claiming differences in the Election Commission while the ruling BJP strongly defended the poll body rejecting the allegations of “vote chori” against the poll body and claimed that the elections in the country had been conducted smoothly since Narendra Modi became Prime Minister in 2014.
The Election Commission of India had also earlier refuted the media reports on Wednesday which had claimed that two of the three Election Commissioners, Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi, had formally recorded objections at least 14 times over the last 10 months. The two ECs said major decisions were being made in the name of the full Election Commission of India without their knowledge, several of which they called “unauthorised and illegal.”
Declaring that “vote chori” is a crime against the Indian people and a direct attack on the Constitution, the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi said “the BJP, RSS and EC who organised it have committed an act of treason. Justice will be served.”
Opposition parties urged the Supreme Court to take suo motu cognisance of the report and Congress leader K.C. Venugopal demanded a Supreme Court-monitored impartial investigation to “expose the rot that has destroyed the ECI’s credibility.” The CEC has no right to remain in office after the expose, he said.
The ECI responded on Wednesday saying that all its actions have been in accordance with laws and instructions of the Commission. Highlighting specific internal notes or observations spread over the 10-month period while overlooking the much larger body of approvals, decisions, instructions, and initiatives gives only “one part of the picture,” it said.
The Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said if the CEC Gyanesh Kumar was aware of elections being rigged and allowed it to happen, then its “treachery to the nation” and “an act of treason.” The Congress MP from Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency said that whosoever is doing it “has to be taken to task.”
Ms Vadra said her brother and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi was continuously taking up the issue of the “biases and the injustice that is going on through the Election Commission of India (ECI).” “So, I think it is an extremely serious issue for our democracy because if there are no elections, where is democracy?
“If the elections are unfair and are being rigged in any manner and the ECI is assisting in that, and the Election Commissioner is not only aware of it, but also allowing it to happen, then it is a very very serious assault on democracy. It is actually treachery with the nation, it is an act of treason and whoever is doing it has to be taken to task,” she said.
BJP national spokesperson Sambit Patra targeted Opposition parties, particularly the Congress, accusing them of questioning constitutional institutions after failing to win public support.
Patra said since 2014, the people had repeatedly rejected the Opposition. He alleged that after Congress and its allies failed to win public support, they began what he described as planned attacks on constitutional institutions.
He also accused Opposition parties of questioning the Election Commission’s impartiality out of frustration over electoral defeats and promoting what he called misleading claims of “vote theft.” Patra referred to the Election Commission’s detailed note and said decisions within the poll panel were taken through democratic and unanimous deliberation.
He said, “The Election Commission’s recent note proves that there is official deliberation and discussion among all the Election Commissioners within the Commission. After lengthy discussions, all the Commissioners arrive at the same view.”
Patra further said, “If the three Election Commissioners do not talk to each other, exchange views or deliberate, and simply agree with everything, Opposition parties call it dictatorship. They say that this government appointed these three Commissioners. They simply say ‘yes’ to everything. Now, according to information from the media, there have been 14 instances of correspondence and official communication between the three.”
Patra said the process reflected the “beauty and maturity” of Indian democracy and argued that the Election Commission was functioning through democratic norms and institutional procedures rather than under a dictatorial system.
The DMK president and former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin demanded immediate resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and halt the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls and that a fair and thorough investigation be conducted into everything that has transpired within the Election Commission with those responsible being held accountable.
The DMK, along with other Opposition parties, has consistently opposed the move to delete crores of voters from the electoral rolls in the name of SIR. Rushed through just months ahead of elections in State after State, the exercise was “riddled with irregularities and sparked widespread unrest,” particularly in West Bengal, Mr Stalin said in a post on X.
Quoting a media report, Mr Stalin said it has cast serious doubts over the results of every Assembly election held after the SIR exercise. “The investigation reveals that Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar had been acting unilaterally and in secrecy, without the concurrence of the other two Election Commissioners. Even more alarming is the revelation that Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi were kept in the dark about crucial decisions being taken within the very institution they jointly oversee.”
He said their objections to decisions being taken without their knowledge were brushed aside on as many as 14 occasions in just ten months. These revelations have severely eroded the credibility of the Election Commission.
“The Election Commission is a three-member body whose business must, as far as possible, be transacted unanimously. Where the Commissioners differ in opinion on any matter, the decision must be based on the majority view. If two of its three members were themselves kept unaware of what was being done in the Commission’s name, this cannot be dismissed as a mere internal or procedural matter. It constitutes a grave assault on Indian democracy. The credibility of an apex institution that is expected to function independently, transparently and without political interference has been seriously compromised,” Mr Stalin said.
“The revelations concerning the electoral rolls are equally disturbing. Appeals were filed against the inclusion of voters even after courts had ordered that their names be added to the electoral rolls. Who authorised these appeals? Who filed them? The two Election Commissioners themselves say they were kept in the dark,” he said,
Raising allegations of vote theft in the Assembly elections in West Bengal and other States, former Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee called for the arrest of the CEC Gyanesh Kumar. “Today, the entire country is in turmoil over Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, and my first demand is that he should be arrested and criminal proceedings should be initiated against him,” Ms Banerjee said, addressing a virtual press conference.
She also called for the “return” of elections that she claimed were “stolen”, saying that Opposition parties were united in the fight against the Election Commission (EC). “Re-election must be held in West Bengal with the old voter list,” Ms Banerjee said. Ms Banerjee said there would be a nationwide protest against the Chief Election Commissioner, and that leaders of the Opposition INDIA bloc would soon meet over the issue.
“All parties, including regional parties and INDIA alliance parties, are together in this battle…. This is no longer merely about impeachment; criminal action is required,” Ms Banerjee said. She also said that her party was the first to raise these issues seven to eight months before the election.
Ms Banerjee demanded that action be taken not only against the Chief Election Commissioner, but also against those in the government and the EC who are responsible for the issues. She claimed that her party’s symbol was taken away because she had protested against the EC’s actions.
Diamond Harbour MP and the Trinamool Congress general secretary Abhishek Banerjee called for a court-monitored investigation against the Chief Election Commissioner. “The CEC must be removed immediately, and a court-monitored investigation ordered. Disenfranchising lakhs of voters to allegedly benefit one political party strikes at the very foundation of our democracy. Those responsible must be held accountable,” Mr Banerjee said.