Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi has once again targeted Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar. Rahul Gandhi on Saturday cited the report of a Malayalam news channel and accused him of match fixing in the elections. The report quoted former Chief Secretary of Kerala GG Thomson as claiming that in 2016, Gyanesh Kumar had suggested him to contest the elections on BJP ticket.
Rahul Gandhi alleged on social media platform X that Gyanesh Kumar was working as an IAS officer at that time and he tried to do political recruitment for BJP. Rahul further said that later Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah made him the umpire and handed over the responsibility of the country's elections. These allegations are based on media reports and Thomson's claims.
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What is Thomson's claim?
According to the report of Asianet News, GG Thomson told that in 2016, he had a conversation with Gyanesh Kumar on a flight to Delhi. According to Thomson, Kumar asked about his plans after retirement and then suggested him to contest the 2019 Lok Sabha elections on a BJP ticket.
Thomson claimed that he was first told to become an MP and later a Union Minister. He said that he would reject this proposal. According to Thomson, Gyanesh Kumar was in government service at that time and he also raised questions about the role of government officials in political activity. These claims have not been independently verified in this report.
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Questions raised on Election Commission regarding SIR also
Rahul Gandhi's latest attack has come amid the ongoing debate over the functioning of the Election Commission. Recently, a media report said that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had lodged objections to some decisions of the Commission several times in the last 10 months. These also included issues related to Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. After this report, opposition parties have raised questions on the functioning of the Election Commission. However, the Election Commission has given its stand on these reports saying that having different opinions at the internal level is part of the decision process.