M.A. Baby meets Kejriwal before INDIA bloc talks on Election Commission

CPI(M) general secretary M.A. Baby met Aam Aadmi Party national convenor Arvind Kejriwal in New Delhi on Sunday, ahead of an INDIA bloc meeting scheduled for September 30. The proposed meeting is expected to discuss the functioning of the Election Commission of India, the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls and the Opposition’s response, including a possible call for the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.

Baby and Kejriwal discussed a report alleging that Kumar had ignored objections raised by other Election Commissioners regarding the SIR exercise. They also discussed Enforcement Directorate action against former Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. Baby had written to INDIA bloc parties and other non-NDA parties seeking a joint discussion on developments following reports of differences within the poll panel.

He also spoke to Mamata Banerjee, chairperson of the All India Trinamool Congress, who agreed that the situation required coordinated action, according to the report. Speaking to reporters after meeting Kejriwal, Baby said his immediate purpose was to invite the AAP leader to participate in a Left campaign against what he described as the alleged misuse of Central investigative agencies. He said the Enforcement Directorate had previously been used against Kejriwal and AAP leader Manish Sisodia and was now being deployed against Vijayan in what he characterised as an effort to damage the former Kerala chief minister’s reputation.

These were Baby’s political assertions; the source material did not include a response from the agency or the individuals named. The two leaders also discussed what Baby called the “authoritarian manner” in which Kumar was functioning and the need for a united Opposition effort to expose alleged wrongdoing. The INDIA bloc meeting next week is expected to determine the Opposition’s course of action on these issues.