Bhopal, Sep 24 (PTI) Senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh on Thursday alleged the Election Commission is functioning as an “organisation of the BJP” since Gyanesh Kumar became the country’s Chief Election Commissioner.
Reacting to a media report that two Election Commissioners had recorded objections to several poll panel decisions, Singh further said he had “absolutely no trust in the Election Commission now”.
The Indian Express has reported that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi formally objected at least 14 times over the past 10 months to decisions and orders they said were taken without their knowledge or approval. The objections related to voter registration, deletion and restoration of names, changes to Form-6 and access to electoral-roll data.
“Since Gyanesh Kumar became the CEC, the Election Commission has been working as an organisation of the BJP,” Singh told PTI Videos.
Recalling former CEC T N Seshan’s tenure, the Congress leader said, “When Seshan was the CEC, I was the chief minister (of Madhya Pradesh). We were scared of the Election Commission. Who is afraid of this man (Gyanesh Kumar) today?”
Singh said he was openly accusing the CEC of being “corrupt” and challenged him to take action against him.
The former Madhya Pradesh chief minister claimed he had submitted a memorandum signed by leaders of 24 political parties to the Election Commission on electronic voting machines (EVMs) and sought a meeting, but the delegation was not even given an acknowledgement.
He said every eligible citizen should have a voter ID and that the Election Commission had a responsibility to ensure their inclusion in electoral rolls, and not remove names unlawfully.
On claims about names of infiltrators being removed from electoral rolls, Singh questioned why the Union government had not identified or acted against them despite being in power for 12 years.
“The Election Commission is an important pillar of any democracy and its job is to conduct elections impartially. But I, at least, have absolutely no trust in the Election Commission now,” Singh said.
The Election Commission has said all decisions taken by it, including those relating to Special Intensive Revision (SIR), had the approval of all three commissioners and were unanimous.
The Election Commission is a three-member constitutional body comprising the CEC and two Election Commissioners. It is currently conducting the SIR of electoral rolls. PTI LAL BNM
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