Indian Communists demand resignation of Gyanesh Kumar
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Both the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the Communist Party of India have issued statements demanding the resignation of the chief election commissioner of India, Gyanesh Kumar.
The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has issued the following statement:
The explosive revelations in the Indian Express (September 23) surrounding the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls raise serious questions not just about the process, but more importantly about the integrity of the Election Commission of India (ECI) itself.
The disclosures have only strengthened suspicions and concerns that the CPI(M), other opposition parties and civil society organisations have all along raised since the SIR process was initiated.
Reports indicate that two out of the three Election Commissioners have recorded objections to several decisions relating to electoral-roll revision and the SIR process. According to the law all the three election commissioners are equal and any difference should be settled by a majority or unanimity. The CEC didn't follow this rule, but went on imposing his views without caring for the objections raised his other EC colleagues.
Significantly, these differences concern fundamental questions about how voters are being added or removed from the electoral rolls and how the SIR is being implemented.
What is being revealed now is that the CEC has all along falsely claimed that the entire process is transparent and decentralised. It is now clear that over the past few months the entire system has been centralised to the extent that it obscures who is actually taking decisions. The Supreme Court has also flagged the over reliance on technology and the "mechanical" issuance of notices.
The issues raised by the two Election Commissioners go beyond the SIR process. It concerns the institutional integrity and democratic functioning of the Election Commission, transparency in the electoral process, over centralisation and the protection of the right to universal adult franchise.
The credibility of the Election Commission as an unbiased institution is at stake. People have lost confidence in a compromised Election Commission, for which CEC Gyanesh Kumar should be held accountable. He cannot continue in office any longer.
The Polit Bureau of the CPI(M) also demands an immediate halt to the SIR process. The integrity and democratic functioning of the ECI must be restored. Transparency in the appointment of the Election Commissioners has to be ensured by scrapping the concerned legislation and enacting a new one by accepting the Supreme Court guidelines for a selection committee comprising of the Prime Minister, Leader of the Opposition and Chief Justice of India.
EC Gyanesh Kumar Must Resign Over Electoral Purge: CPI
The Indian Express investigation has exposed a grave crisis within the Election Commission. Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi recorded objections at least 14 times in 10 months to decisions taken under CEC Gyanesh Kumar, including the SIR, “illegal” and “unauthorised” changes to Form 6, and the centralisation of electoral-roll software. They also approached the Cabinet Secretary over the concentration of control. Yet these objections were ignored and the SIR was pushed ahead leading to the removal of over 13 crore voters across states and UTs.
The CPI has consistently warned that governments cannot be allowed to handpick voters in a democracy. CEC Gyanesh Kumar has become the face of the electoral purge eroding public trust in the constitutional body. He has no right to continue, and to restore public trust and credibility in the ECI, he must resign. The Supreme Court should examine the decisions of the ECI and the manner in which they were taken. This crisis is inseparable from the BJP government’s 2023 changes to the appointment process of CECs and ECs, which weakened institutional independence. The ECI’s mandate is clear: every eligible citizen must be enabled to vote, and that mandate must be upheld in all circumstances.
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