India Congress chief demands election commissioner’s resignation amid electoral-roll dispute
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge accused Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar of serving the Narendra Modi government and said he should leave office. At a party meeting, Kharge called for greater disclosure and oversight of changes made during the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls.
Indian National Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has accused Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar of acting as a “puppet” of the Narendra Modi government and said he has no right to remain in office. Kharge made the remarks on Tuesday at a meeting of the Congress Working Committee, amid a dispute over the Election Commission’s handling of the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls. His comments followed an Indian Express report describing disagreements within the commission over aspects of the revision and electoral-roll management.
The report said Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had objected on 14 occasions over the previous 10 months. According to the material supplied, the concerns included changes to Form 6, which is used for new voter registration, the deletion and restoration of names, appeals against restoration decisions and the centralisation of the electoral-roll database. Kharge listed five demands, including publication of data on major changes to voter lists.
He also called for deleted voters to be informed and allowed to appeal, and for political parties to receive electoral-roll data promptly in a simple format. He further sought independent, time-bound investigations into serious discrepancies and greater transparency in election-related data and decisions. Kharge questioned why the two election commissioners were allegedly excluded from an internal portal and asked whether confidential decisions were being made without their participation.
The Election Commission said the report presented only one part of the picture and that differences of view were normal during deliberations. It later said decisions relating to the revision had been taken unanimously. Kharge said Congress was seeking to protect voters’ rights and public confidence in the electoral process, rather than weaken the commission.
He also backed Rahul Gandhi’s earlier claims about electoral-roll irregularities in parts of Karnataka, Haryana and Maharashtra.
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