Oppn Intensifies Efforts For CEC’s Removal

Opposition efforts to coordinate a campaign for the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar gathered momentum on Sunday, with CPM general secretary M.A. Baby meeting AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal ahead of the September 30 I.N.D.I.A. bloc meeting.

Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal also demanded Kumar’s removal and sought an FIR and the arrest of Seema Khanna, who managed ECINET operations, over irregularities in the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

Baby and Kejriwal discussed the Election Commission controversy during their meeting. The CPM leader also invited Kejriwal to attend protest programmes organised by the Left Democratic Front in Kerala against what the party described as the misuse of central agencies.

Kejriwal has extended support in principle to the Opposition’s demand concerning the CEC but is yet to decide whether he will personally attend the September 30 meeting at the Constitution Club.

Baby’s outreach is part of the CPM’s efforts to bring Opposition parties together over the poll panel’s functioning. He had earlier written to I.N.D.I.A. bloc constituents and other non-NDA parties seeking a joint discussion. He has also spoken to Trinamul Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, who, according to CPM sources, agreed on the need for coordinated action.

During Sunday’s meeting, Baby and Kejriwal also discussed the Enforcement Directorate’s action against CPM Politburo member and former Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan.

The September 30 meeting is expected to discuss the Election Commission’s functioning, the SIR exercise and a joint course of action, including the demand for Kumar’s removal.

Sibal accused Kumar of taking “unilateral” decisions on the SIR and urged the Supreme Court to consider whether recent elections should be annulled in light of the allegations.

He contended that while a new law enacted by the Modi government protected Kumar from criminal prosecution, Khanna had no such statutory immunity and should face an FIR and arrest. Her role in access to and management of the electoral database has come under scrutiny in the controversy.

Later on Sunday, the CPM rejected the Election Commission’s clarification issued a day earlier, saying it failed to address concerns arising from reported internal objections. The party’s Politburo reiterated its demand for Kumar’s immediate resignation and said impeachment proceedings should be considered if he refused to step down.

The party said the central question was whether electoral revision was being conducted transparently, in accordance with the law and with safeguards against the wrongful exclusion of eligible voters. It also demanded an immediate halt to the SIR.

The Congress rejected the commission’s proposed remedial measures as inadequate. Party leader Jairam Ramesh described its latest statement as “damage control”, saying the measures did not address what the Congress alleged was large-scale disenfranchisement.

Ramesh also alleged that ECINET had been used to override decisions of electoral registration officers. He said the commission’s proposal to constitute a committee to certify the software’s compliance with electoral laws itself raised questions about its legality.