INDIA bloc parties likely to meet on September 30 over EC row, SIR

INDIA bloc parties are likely to meet in New Delhi on September 30 to discuss concerns over the Election Commission and Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls. Opposition parties are also discussing a fresh removal notice against CEC Gyanesh Kumar.

New Delhi: Opposition INDIA bloc parties are likely to meet in New Delhi on September 30 to discuss concerns over the Election Commission and the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, besides other issues, sources said.

The proposed meeting comes amid increased coordination among opposition parties over the Election Commission following reports of differences within the poll panel over aspects of the SIR exercise.

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The parties have been in touch with each other on the issue and are discussing a joint response, sources added.

The CPI(M), CPI and CPI(ML)-Liberation have demanded the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and an immediate halt to the SIR, while the Congress has also stepped up its attack on Kumar.

The Congress Working Committee is scheduled to meet on September 29 to discuss its strategy on the issue.

The developments have also brought West Bengal’s bitter political rivals, the Mamata Banerjee-led TMC and the CPI(M), on the same page on the Election Commission issue.

CPI(M) general secretary M A Baby wrote to the INDIA bloc and other opposition leaders seeking a meeting over the developments, and subsequently spoke to Banerjee, who agreed that the situation warranted coordinated action.

Opposition parties are working on a fresh removal notice against CEC Kumar, which is likely to be submitted in both Houses of Parliament after being vetted by legal experts. It would be the third such attempt by the opposition.

The opposition’s latest mobilisation follows an Indian Express report that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi raised objections on several occasions over decisions and orders regarding the SIR.

The Election Commission has said that differing views and observations are a normal part of institutional deliberations and asserted that its orders have full legal sanction and follow statutory procedures.

Earlier, 23 political parties and an Independent MP jointly approached the Chief Justice of India over the SIR process and other election-related issues, underlining the broader opposition coordination on the issue.