Congress demands CEC Gyanesh Kumar’s removal, SIR suspension over electoral roll row

The Congress Working Committee demanded CEC Gyanesh Kumar’s removal, suspension of the SIR and restoration of 13.3 crore names it said were removed from electoral rolls. It also sought Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s resignation, alleging irregularities in the election process

New Delhi: The Congress on Tuesday demanded the immediate removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, suspension of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), restoration of 13 crore 30 lakh names it claimed had been struck off the electoral rolls, and the resignation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi over what it described as “match-fixing” of elections.

The opposition party made the demands after a two-and-a-half-hour meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC), chaired by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and attended by former party chiefs Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, and general secretaries Jairam Ramesh, K C Venugopal and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, among others.

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Addressing the media along with Venugopal after the meeting, Jairam Ramesh said Rahul Gandhi spoke for 20-25 minutes and the main point he made was that the revelations related to the Election Commission were being made because of the Congress.

“Rahul Gandhi himself has been raising these issues related to polls in Haryana, Karnataka, Maharashtra and some did not believe him, but now he has been proven right,” Ramesh said.

“The elections in our country are not fair and transparent. They are match-fixing elections — match-fixing between the Election Commission and PM-HM duo,” he alleged.

Rahul Gandhi said the Congress was not just a party of “virodh (opposing)” but “pratirodh (resistance)”, according to Ramesh.

A resolution passed by the CWC said it recognised that what was once Rahul Gandhi’s solitary conviction had become a nationwide demand for accountability, transparency and the restoration of the sanctity of India’s electoral system.

“In line with the mood of the nation, the CWC, therefore, resolves to: Demand the immediate resignation of the CEC, who has forfeited all moral and institutional authority. Demand the immediate suspension of the SIR in view of serious concerns regarding the integrity and transparency of the electoral rolls being prepared through the SIR, as well as the constitutional validity of the SIR process itself,” the resolution said.

The CWC also demanded the immediate restoration of 13 crore 30 lakh names removed from the electoral rolls.

“This brazen ‘vote chori’ has been organised by the CEC on behalf of the Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) and the Home Minister (Amit Shah). Nothing short of their resignation will ensure the safety of our Constitution and hard-earned democracy,” the resolution said.

The BJP and its “handpicked officials” must understand that this “brazen theft” of the people’s franchise would not go unanswered, it said.

The Congress party would resist it in Parliament, in the courts and on the streets until the guilty were punished, every citizen’s vote was secure and the ECI was restored as an independent constitutional authority, the resolution said.

For the Indian National Congress, the struggle to restore universal adult franchise in India was no less than the freedom struggle itself, it said.

“And we will ensure that this struggle reaches its rightful conclusion,” it added.

In his remarks, Venugopal said the main demand was that Kumar had no moral right to continue as CEC for a single day.

“He (CEC) will understand in the coming days what level of resistance we will build up for his resignation,” he said.

“Gyanesh Kumar is only a tool. When dictators lose the confidence of the people, they seek extraordinary tools to stay in power. His actions on SIR cannot be without the concurrence of his masters — PM and HM,” Venugopal said.

“There is a moral responsibility for the PM on this issue. We are demanding resignation from the PM on moral grounds,” he said.

The meeting came days after The Indian Express reported that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had objected on record at least 14 times over the past 10 months to decisions and orders on SIR that they said were issued without their knowledge or recommendation.

Under fire over the red flags raised by two of its commissioners over the SIR process, the EC has asserted that differing views and observations are a normal part of deliberations in any institution and that all its orders carry full legal sanction and follow established statutory procedures.