Daijiworld Media Network - Wayanad
Wayanad, Sep 24: Congress MP from Wayanad Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Thursday said Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar should face criminal prosecution if allegations of illegal tampering with electoral rolls are established.
Speaking amid a controversy over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, Priyanka alleged that interference with the electoral process and large-scale deletion of voters would amount to a serious offence against democracy and the Constitution.
“Anybody who plays around with the democratic process of our elections is committing treason against this nation,” she said, adding that she did not believe constitutional officials should have legal protection if they were found to have committed illegal acts.
Priyanka also alleged that around 13 crore names had been deleted from electoral rolls and described such deletion as a criminal act against democracy, the Constitution and the country. The figure relates to the SIR exercise across 30 states and Union Territories cited in a recent report by The Indian Express.
She further alleged that Kumar was aware of irregularities, had been informed about them by fellow Election Commissioners and nevertheless allowed what she described as an unfair election process to continue.
The remarks came after an Indian Express report claimed that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had formally raised objections at least 14 times over 10 months concerning decisions and orders related to electoral-roll procedures and the SIR process.
The report said the objections covered issues including changes to the Form 6 application for new voters, access to the electoral-roll database, centralisation of election software and procedures relating to voter deletions and appeals.
The Election Commission, however, rejected suggestions of an internal rift and said decisions related to the SIR and other matters were taken unanimously. The poll panel said the concerns raised by the two Election Commissioners were part of its internal functioning and did not amount to disagreement with the final decisions of the Commission.
Priyanka also questioned the legal protection available to the Chief Election Commissioner, arguing that such protection should not apply if an illegal act was established.
The Election Commission is a three-member constitutional body comprising the Chief Election Commissioner and two Election Commissioners. The ECI's official directory lists Gyanesh Kumar as CEC and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi as Election Commissioners.