NEW DELHI: Leaders of the INDIA bloc will meet through video conferencing on Thursday evening to discuss their strategy over the ongoing row involving chief election commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar, sources cited by news agency ANI said, with Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge set to chair the meeting.
The meeting comes as Opposition parties continue their campaign against alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and demand accountability from the Election Commission of India (ECI).
The opposition has accused the poll panel of facilitating the deletion of eligible voters from electoral rolls and has sought Kumar’s resignation.
The Election Commission has maintained that it follows established procedures and defended its role in conducting elections.
Opposition steps up campaign against Election Commission
The INDIA bloc had earlier announced a joint action plan under its “Save Democracy” campaign. The proposed programme included protests, a march towards the Election Commission headquarters and a rally in New Delhi on November 1.
On October 6, INDIA bloc MPs led by Lok Sabha leader of opposition Rahul Gandhi marched towards Nirvachan Sadan, the Election Commission’s headquarters, seeking a meeting with the poll panel.
Delhi Police stopped the march amid heavy barricading and detained several opposition leaders, including Rahul Gandhi and Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. They were later released.
Following the protest, the ECI said Delhi Police had informed it that a delegation of around 240 MPs wanted to meet the Election Commissioners and submit a memorandum at the Parliament House Annexe.
The poll panel described the proposed venue and manner of seeking the meeting as “unusual” under its established protocol.
Delhi Police said the march had not been granted permission and cited prohibitory orders to explain its action against the protesters.
The opposition subsequently approached President Droupadi Murmu. An INDIA bloc delegation, including Rahul Gandhi, Kharge, Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee and Samajwadi Party representatives, submitted a memorandum outlining its demands on October 9.
The memorandum sought Kumar’s resignation, suspension of the SIR exercise, restoration of voters allegedly deleted from electoral rolls and a return to paper ballots.
The opposition also called for the repeal of the 2023 law granting immunity to the chief election commissioner and other election commissioners for official duties.
Kharge targets immunity law, EVMs
On Wednesday, Kharge accused the BJP-led government of undermining democratic institutions and shielding election officials from accountability. He said the opposition’s campaign was aimed at protecting the Constitution and democracy rather than securing electoral gains for any particular party.
Kharge criticised Section 16 of the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners Act, 2023, which grants legal immunity to current and former Election Commissioners for official duties.
He argued that the provision protected election officials from accountability and demanded its repeal.
“We are asking the BJP to repeal that law. Because you are giving protection to the Election Commissioner and letting him make mistakes. And whatever mistakes have happened today, they happened through Gyanesh Kumar. Why did you give him immunity? It was given so that you can make mistakes through him just by telling him to do so, and forgive him. The Chief Justice doesn’t have immunity. The President of India doesn’t have it. An Election Commissioner does,” Kharge said.
He also called for Kumar’s removal, the scrapping of electronic voting machines (EVMs) and a return to paper ballots, while demanding stricter checks on changes to voter lists.
“Follow the constitutional system, and remove Gyanesh Kumar, whom you have appointed today. Along with removing him, change the system too. Bring the previous law back, get rid of the EVMs, bring back ballot papers, and the software that sits in one place and controls the whole country. Stop using BLOs to make changes to the voter list,” he said.
Kharge also criticised the government’s response to opposition concerns, alleging that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah were using ministers and constitutional officials to avoid directly addressing the issues raised by the opposition.
INDIA bloc challenges SIR, Jantar Mantar decision
At a meeting on October 13, INDIA bloc leaders reiterated their resolve to continue the campaign and said they would challenge the denotification of Jantar Mantar as a designated protest site.
Opposition leaders, including Rahul Gandhi and Kharge, have also approached the Supreme Court challenging aspects of the SIR exercise.
On October 15, the Supreme Court issued notices to the Election Commission, Kumar and Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi on petitions challenging aspects of the revision exercise.
The court also agreed to examine the denotification of Jantar Mantar and directed Delhi Police to preserve CCTV footage of the protests amid allegations of excessive force.
Thursday’s meeting is expected to focus on the opposition’s strategy in the continuing dispute with the Election Commission, including its demands over the SIR exercise and accountability of the poll panel.
Courtesy : TOI
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