New Delhi [India], September 28 (ANI): Congress MP Karti Chidambaram on Monday claimed that Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls is aimed at "excluding people" and his party has "no confidence" in Chief Election Commisioner Gyanesh Kumar, saying even the BJP's allies in Bihar are questioning the poll body's functioning.
Speaking to ANI over the ongoing row over the Election Commission and SIR, Chidambaram said the revision should be inclusive
"It's not just the opposition parties raising questions about the Election Commission's functioning. Even the alliance partners of the BJP in Bihar are raising questions about the EC's functioning. The entire engineering rollout of this SIR process is very troublesome. It should be an inclusive exercise. Anybody over the age of 18 who is a citizen of India and a resident of a constituency must be registered to become a voter. But this SIR exercise is only aimed at excluding people. It is making it so difficult for a first-time voter to enroll", he said.
The row had begun after Indian Express had reported that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had raised objections at least 14 times over a period of 10 months on decisions and orders related to the SIR process and other electoral matters. The reported disagreements included issues concerning Form 6, voter deletions and access to electoral-roll databases.
The Election Commission, however, rejected the suggestion that the objections amounted to institutional dissent over final decisions. The poll panel said operational queries, inputs and suggestions raised during the draft stage were part of its standard administrative and decision-making process. The Commission maintained that all decisions, including those related to SIR, were unanimous and had the approval of all three commissioners.
Citing the report, he questioned the EC clarification. "If everything is being done in consensus, why were 14 emails not answered?... I am sure that there are people with a conscience in the election commission who are very, very uncomfortable at the moment about the way in which the election commission is functioning... We have no confidence in the Chief Election Commissioner," he said.
On the upcoming INDIA bloc meeting, he said, "Every party has representatives in the meeting, and they will all have a free and frank discussion. And everybody's aware of what is happening and the political reality and the societal reality and the pressures and the concerns which society is raising. I'm sure they will all act in a responsible manner."
Chidambaram said every party would be represented in the upcoming INDIA bloc meeting on September 30 and hold "a free and frank discussion." He said everyone was aware of "the political reality and the societal reality and the pressures and the concerns which society is raising."
This comes as Opposition parties, including the Congress, CPI, CPI(M), Trinamool Congress and Shiv Sena (UBT) have also called for Kumar's resignation. Congress has been staging nationwide protests to demand the resignation of Gyanesh Kumar. (ANI)
"SIR aimed only at excluding people", Karti Chidambaram on ECI row, says "no confidence in CEC"
