New Delhi: The Opposition INDIA bloc parties are likely to meet here on September 30 to chalk out a coordinated response to the escalating controversy surrounding the Election Commission and Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar following reports of dissent by two Election Commissioners over electoral-roll decisions.
Opposition plans joint response
The proposed meeting comes after The Indian Express reported that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had recorded objections at least 14 times over a 10-month period to decisions and orders concerning voter registration, deletion and restoration of names, changes to Form 6 and control of the electoral-roll database.
The newspaper reported that the two commissioners had, on several occasions, said key decisions were taken without their knowledge or approval.
The reports have triggered an increasingly bitter political confrontation, with the Congress and several other Opposition parties demanding Kumar’s resignation or removal and, in some cases, his arrest.
The Congress has also taken the issue to the streets, organising nationwide protests on Friday against the CEC and the SIR exercise. It is now scheduled to hold a Congress Working Committee meeting on September 29 to discuss the issue.
Focus on EC functioning
As such, the proposed INDIA bloc meeting on September 30 is expected to focus not merely on the SIR exercise but on the wider question of the Election Commission’s functioning, the reported dissent within the Commission and the Opposition’s proposed parliamentary action against Kumar.
The meeting would also provide the INDIA bloc parties an opportunity to coordinate their parliamentary and street-level strategy at a time when the dispute has moved from an internal institutional controversy to a major political confrontation over the credibility and functioning of the country’s electoral machinery.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has accused the CEC of undermining the electoral process and has called the reported objections by Sandhu and Joshi significant. The party also held nationwide protests on September 25, including outside Election Commission offices, to highlight the matter.
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Calls for clarification grow
The issue has also begun attracting questions from within the ruling alliance. Union Minister and Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) chief Chirag Paswan said the CEC should clearly present the Commission’s position when questions are raised about its functioning.
Rashtriya Lok Morcha chief Upendra Kushwaha also called for an immediate clarification from the Election Commission to dispel confusion among the public. The N Chandrababu Naidu-led Telugu Desam Party joined the call for greater clarity, saying an appropriate clarification from the Election Commission would help strengthen public confidence in the institution.
