Raipur, Sep 27 (PTI) Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai on Sunday said Congress leader Rahul Gandhi should apologise to the Election Commission of India and the country over his allegations concerning the poll panel.
He accused the opposition party of attempting to malign constitutional institutions after repeated electoral defeats.
Addressing a press conference at the BJP’s state office in Raipur, Sai said that under Gandhi’s leadership, the Congress has lost nearly 100 elections and has made itself worthy of being consigned to the dustbin of history.
Sai said the meeting held by the Chief Election Commissioner and the two Election Commissioners has proved that Congress’ claims of internal discord within the Commission are a ploy by Gandhi to undermine India’s constitutional framework.
The Congress and several other parties and organisations have demanded the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar after a recent investigation by The Indian Express claimed that two election commissioners formally objected at least 14 times over 10 months to the poll panel’s handling of the SIR process.
The Election Commission has clarified through a statement that decisions, including those relating to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, were taken unanimously by the three-member commission, Sai said.
After its first meeting following the controversy, the poll panel said in a statement on Saturday that the letters, mentioned in the media report, sent by Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi to the Cabinet Secretary pertained to an officer on deputation, rather than policy or IT division matters.
The statement has shown that the Congress’ claims about differences within the commission were “baseless”. The Congress should refrain from making such allegations and respect constitutional institutions, the CM said.
The letter to the Cabinet Secretary mentioned in the news report relates neither to any policy issue nor to the SIR. It concerned a routine administrative matter. The Election Commission is directly accountable to the President and, therefore, there was no question of the poll panel’s commissioners writing to the Cabinet Secretary on a policy matter, he said.
Sai also referred to the Supreme Court’s May 27 judgment on the SIR and said the Opposition was still raising questions despite the court having upheld the legality of the exercise.
He further alleged that the Congress repeatedly questioned constitutional institutions whenever it faced electoral defeats.
“Whenever Congress loses before the people, it starts making allegations against constitutional institutions out of frustration,” Sai said.
Gandhi has been consistently showing disrespect towards the Constitution, much like a habitual offender, and has been maligning constitutional institutions, he alleged.
Referring to the Congress’ earlier criticism of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), Sai said its leaders had questioned the electoral process despite themselves winning elections conducted through the same system.
“If the electoral process is wrong, then Congress representatives should ask themselves whether their own election was also wrong,” he said.
The Congress leadership should apologise unconditionally to the country and constitutional institutions, he added. PTI TKP NR
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