INDIA bloc members has decided to move impeachment motion against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar amid 'dissent' row that has hit the poll body.
The move comes a day after media reports claimed of 'internal dissent' in the election commission over certain aspects of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR). Ever since these reports have surfaced, Opposition parties have been demanding the scrapping of the SIR exercise as they mounted a fierce attack on Gyanesh Kumar. The opposition has alleged that CEC was running the poll panel as a "one-man autocracy" and demanding his impeachment and arrest, after objections raised by election commissioners on the Special Intensive Revision of voter lists came into the open. The ruling BJP, however, said that election commissioners sharing differing views in official deliberations shows the Election Commission (EC) is functioning in a democratic manner and demolishes the opposition parties' allegation that it is "dictatorial". What is the issue? Two Election Commissioners, Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi, red-flagged issues relating to deletion of names under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and raised objections to the decision-making process 14 times in the past few months, according to a report in Indian Express. What Did The Election Commission Say? Reacting to it, the Election Commission asserted that differing views and observations are a normal part of deliberation in any institution and all its orders "are an outcome of the unanimous decisions of the full Commission in the past one year". The opposition parties, which have been critical of the EC over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, latched onto the issue to demand immediate impeachment proceedings against CEC Kumar in Parliament. Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, reiterated his "vote chori" charge against the EC, terming it an act of treason and a crime against the people of India. "The BJP, RSS and EC who organised it have committed an act of treason. Justice will be served," Gandhi said.
