Daijiworld Media Network - New Delhi
New Delhi, Oct 4: Senior Congress leader and former Union finance minister P Chidambaram has called for Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation amid the continuing controversy over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
Speaking to news agency, Chidambaram said Kumar would eventually have to resign and that stepping down voluntarily would be the “wisest thing” for him to do. He warned that protests against the Election Commission would intensify if the CEC refused to resign.
“Sooner or later, he will have to resign. Therefore, the wisest thing for him to do is to resign as early as possible,” Chidambaram said.
He said the agitation would not stop if Kumar continued in office, claiming that the INDIA bloc and several social and political groups were protesting against the Election Commission’s handling of the voter-roll revision.
Asked who was protecting Kumar and encouraging him not to resign, Chidambaram said he did not know who was backing the CEC. He alleged that the government sometimes defended the Election Commission while at other times maintained that it had no connection with the poll panel.
Chidambaram said the Election Commission was a constitutional institution but claimed that someone was providing Kumar with support and encouraging him to remain in office.
The Congress leader also said that if evidence emerged against Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi suggesting that their conduct was illegal or questionable, the opposition would demand their resignations as well. The Election Commission's official directory lists Kumar as CEC and Sandhu and Joshi as the two Election Commissioners.
Chidambaram also appealed to Chief Electoral Officers (CEOs) in the states to come forward and disclose what had happened during the SIR exercise. He said Maharashtra and Karnataka’s CEOs had explained their positions, while the Odisha CEO had opted for premature retirement.
He urged state election officials to speak out before they were summoned by a High Court or the Supreme Court for questioning. According to Chidambaram, they should disclose what directions they received from senior authorities, when those instructions were issued and how they were implemented.
Chidambaram alleged that the SIR process was unlawful and said election officials should now break their silence and explain the process publicly.
His remarks came amid escalating opposition protests demanding Kumar’s resignation over the electoral-roll revision. Protests were held in Delhi and Mumbai on October 2 and 3, with demonstrators raising concerns over voter exclusions and demanding greater accountability from the Election Commission.
The Election Commission, however, has maintained that its actions are being carried out according to due process and that decisions of the poll panel have been taken unanimously.