Kerala Congress leader demands election chief’s resignation

Kerala Chief Minister V. D. Satheesan has joined political leaders demanding the resignation of India’s Chief Election Commissioner, Gyanesh Kumar.

Satheesan said allegations by former Kerala Chief Secretary Jiji Thomson had raised questions about the Election Commission of India’s political neutrality. Thomson told The Hindu that Kumar had made a friendly suggestion, rather than a formal offer, about joining the Bharatiya Janata Party and contesting an election. Satheesan nevertheless said Kumar had lost the moral and constitutional right to remain in office and should step down immediately.

He accused the commissioner of damaging the public credibility of the election watchdog. The statement came amid wider opposition allegations that Kumar had overridden fellow election commissioners in decisions that allegedly excluded large numbers of people from electoral rolls. The supplied material says opposition parties claim those affected were chiefly from minority and marginalised communities.

The ruling United Democratic Front and the opposition Left Democratic Front have presented Thomson’s account as evidence of alleged political bias. Communist Party of India and Communist Party of India (Marxist) leaders have also criticised Kumar. Former Union minister and BJP leader V.

Muraleedharan rejected the attacks, attributing them to Congress frustration over what he called the INDIA bloc’s repeated electoral failures. The supplied material does not record a response from Kumar or the Election Commission to Satheesan’s latest demand.