New Delhi [India], September 23 (ANI): Sources within the Election Commission have sought to play down a report by the Indian Express which had said that two Election Commssioners had objected to decisions taken on the Special Intensive regulation (SIR) process.
According to sources, all decisions of the Election Commission of India, including SIR, have been unanimous and with the approval of both the Election Commissioners and the Chief Election Commissioner.
According to the Indian Express report, "Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi objected at least 14 times over the last 10 months to decisions taken and orders issued without their knowledge."
Opposition parties however, are up in arms after the report. Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Derek O'Brien on Wednesday urged Parliament to bring out the notice of motion signed by over 60 Opposition Rajya Sabha MPs seeking the removal of CEC Gyanesh Kumar, following the report.
In an X post, that referenced the Express report, he renewed the call for an impeachment motion against Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar.
"Five months ago, 60+ Rajya Sabha MPs (50 needed) wrote to Chairman RS moving Motion to remove CEC Gyanesh Kumar. After the big news break today that two Election Commissioners objected to many of CEC's actions, it's time to bring out the RS Motion today. Impeach CEC to save democracy," he said.
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav called upon the Supreme Court of India to take suo motu cognisance alleging that this amounted to a betrayal of democracy.
In a post on X, he emphasised that the media report by The Indian Express directly means that all Election Commissioners are not able to perform their rightful duties.
"This is an extremely serious news that in the past 10 months, 2 Election Commissioners have registered their objections 14 times against the Election Commission's wrong decisions. This directly means that all Election Commissioners are not able to perform their rightful duties. If the members of an independent body do not have the freedom to carry out just actions or if there is no hearing of them, then these are extremely fatal and dangerous circumstances for democracy. For some people to betray democracy by becoming puppets of those in power is a grave constitutional crime. This is nothing less than a conspiracy to wipe out democracy. Supreme Court, take suo motu cognizance!" he said.
Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal claimed that Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar does not have the support of the majority among the Election Commission members.
"It seems some people in this country still have a conscience... look at the kind of irregularities taking place in the Election Commission. There used to be a single member; now, there are three. It has been established that the majority was not with Gyanesh Kumar. He used to act arbitrarily; Mr Joshi and Mr Sandhu questioned his working methods on 14 occasions," he alleged.
UBT MP Sanjay Raut claimed that elections in India have been compromised and alleged that the Election Commission of India (ECI) functions under the Union Ministry of Home Affairs.
"Gyanesh Kumar should be suspended, and legal action should be taken against him. In this country, elections have become a farce. ECI comes under the Home Ministry. The number one criminal is Amit Shah. If the PM wants to save the nation, he should remove Amit Shah from the Cabinet. If Modi ji doesn't take action, then I will urge the President, who is the chief of all three security forces, to remove Gyanesh Kumar. If the President also takes no action, then the Army Chief should come forward to save the country from such 'hukumshahon' (dictators)," he said.
The political fracas over the report is likely to snowball with the Congress calling for a news conference later in the day. The Congress and the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi have been virulent in their attack of the Election Commission and the SIR process alleging that this had led to a theft of voting rights. (ANI)
EC sources say all decisions taken in unanimity, after media report cited objections to SIR decisions by two commissioners
