Haldwani (Uttarakhand) [India], September 24 (ANI): Former Uttarakhand Chief Minister and Congress leader Harish Rawat on Wednesday alleged that the Election Commission has compromised its autonomy and raised questions over its functioning in connection with allegations related to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process.
Rawat said that Congress and Rahul Gandhi have been raising concerns over the functioning of the poll body and alleged that the Election Commission's independence has been affected.
Speaking to ANI, Harish Rawat said, "Congress and Rahul Gandhi have been saying from the beginning that the Election Commission has mortgaged its autonomy to the government. The opposition has been raising serious questions about its functioning."
He further questioned the role of the Chief Election Commissioner in a three-member Election Commission, saying that all commissioners have equal powers under the law.
He said, "Lawmakers made the Election Commission a three-member body. This does not mean that the Chief Election Commissioner is the sole authority. He just can't rule by majority voice. If the majority voice of the two other Election Commissioners expresses a different opinion, that opinion should be considered the opinion of the commission, and it now seems that on many important issues related to SIR, including additions and deletions and voter list issues, there was no consensus, and by taking a majority, some questions were raised in the Election Commission. The Chief Election Commissioner overruled them and asserted his monopoly. This shows. This suggests that the Election Commission has now completely stepped away from democracy."
Rawat further alleged that the decision-making process of the Election Commission lacked transparency and said the three-member structure was created to ensure collective decision-making.
He stated, "Transparency had already ended before this. Now then your decision-making process, that process, is finished. That's why lawmakers created a three-member commission within democracy. They could have made it two members, they could have made it four members. But they made it three so that majority decisions and judgments can be made on things. And the lawmakers have given all three commissioners equal powers. Just for functioning, the Commission's Chief Election Commissioner is considered the senior one, but if the senior one understands that his two colleagues are naive and overrules their opinion, then this is against the lawmakers' opinion, against the lawmakers' sentiment. This is a violation of the Parliament's law."
Opposition parties have mounted an attack on the government following a report by the Indian Express that said that decisions taken on the Special Intensive Regulation (SIR) process were objected to by two of the three Election Commissioners.
Opposition parties are demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
In an official statement, the poll body said that all orders by the body carry full legal sanction and any queries raised by members at the stage of drafting procedures were standard practice.
A report by the Indian Express that had said that decisions taken on the Special Intensive Regulation (SIR) process were objected to by two of the three Election Commissioners.
According to the 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." (ANI)
"Election Commission has stepped away from democracy": Harish Rawat over SIR-related allegations
