A group of former bureaucrats have demanded the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, accusing him of dictatorial conduct and serious infringements of constitutional functioning, particularly during the Special Intensive Revision of Electoral Rolls (SIR).
A group of retired Indian bureaucrats have demanded the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in the conduct of a special intensive revision of electoral rolls (SIR). In an open letter, the Constitutional Conduct Group accused the CEC’s functioning as 'imperious, autocratic and dictatorial'.
The group raised concerns about the Election Commission’s decisions related to the SIR, including changes to Form 6 for registering new voters, appeals against the inclusion of voters in West Bengal, and the handling of voter data in Goa. They claimed that some decisions were taken without the knowledge of two election commissioners, Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi.
The retired bureaucrats also demanded amendments to the 2023 Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners Act to 'democratise' the selection process. The group reiterated its earlier demand to scrap the SIR exercise, accusing the poll body of 'weaponising' its constitutional powers by introducing the SIR and putting in place 'unnecessarily complicated' procedures that enable 'large-scale manipulation' of electoral rolls.
In one written objection, Commissioner Sandhu stated that the poll panel had acted against their advice and described the action as 'unauthorised and illegal'. The two commissioners also raised concerns over access to the digital electoral roll database. The letter was signed by 74 people, including former Maharashtra Principal Secretary Sandeep Bagchee, former Chairman of the Uttar Pradesh Administrative Reforms and Decentralisation Commission JL Bajaj and former West Bengal Additional Chief Secretary G Balachandhran.
The demands for Kumar’s resignation and the concerns raised by the retired bureaucrats come after The Indian Express reported that two election commissioners had objected to decisions related to the SIR 14 times in 10 months, saying that some had been taken without their knowledge.
Source:
Scroll.in
