New Delhi: Amidst the controversy over Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and SIR, the matter has now reached the Supreme Court. A petition has been filed alleging that all the decision-making powers in the Election Commission have been concentrated in one place and many important decisions are being taken without the consent of the remaining two Election Commissioners. The petitioner has demanded that for a fair investigation into this entire matter, either a judicial inquiry should be conducted or an SIT should be formed.
Which decisions were questioned in the petition?
The petition states that the decisions which have been taken without the consent of both the commissioners should be cancelled. These include matters like change in the process of SIR, amendment in Form-6, control over electoral data through ECInet, restrictions imposed on electoral registration officers and filing of 16.10 lakh appeals without information in Bengal.
The petition also cites a report, which claims that Election Commissioners Dr. Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Dr. Vivek Joshi had raised objections to the decisions of the Chief Election Commissioner at least 14 times in the last 10 months, but their objections were ignored. The petitioner has demanded that Form-6 should be implemented as before and that the data collected under ECInet should be forensically examined.
On this, the Election Commission has clarified that differences of opinion on any issue are an internal matter and it is part of the normal functioning. The Commission says that in the end all decisions are taken only with consent.
Warning of protests across the country from October 2
The political conflict regarding this issue has also intensified. An organization has given an ultimatum to CEC Gyanesh Kumar to resign within 48 hours and warned that if he does not resign, protests will be started across the country from October 2. Congress is also continuously opening its front against the Election Commission and the Chief Election Commissioner. Congress demonstrated in many cities on Friday.
BJP hit back
Whereas BJP has hit back at the opposition. The party alleges that, frustrated by continuous election defeats, the Congress and India alliance are defaming constitutional institutions. On this issue, Chief Ministers of many BJP ruled states including UP CM Yogi Adityanath, Maharashtra's Devendra Fadnavis, Assam's Himanta Biswa Sarma held a press conference and attacked Congress and Rahul Gandhi.