New Delhi: A protest is growing against India's Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar after a news report revealed that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had formally recorded objections to the poll body's steps at least 14 times over the last 10 months amid the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls.
The National Students' Union of India (NSUI) also joined the agitation and called for the arrest of Gyanesh Kumar while staging a demonstration in Delhi on Thursday. The Congress-backed student body also threatened to launch nationwide protests against the CEC over alleged irregularities in the electoral process and voters' lists.
NSUI activists staged a march from its headquarters on Raisina Road to the Election Commission of India (EC) at Nirvachan Sadan. They launched the protest in support of Congress MP Rahul Gandhi's allegations of "vote chori" and his demand for accountability from the poll panel.
The NSUI alleged that serious questions had been raised over the electoral process and voter lists and demanded a "fair investigation", transparency and accountability from the EC.
"If Gyanesh Kumar is not arrested and our demands are not addressed, NSUI will organise nationwide protests and intensify its movement across the country," NSUI National Media In-charge Ravi Hanuman Pandey said.
An investigation by The Indian Express revealed an internal rift within the Election Commission of India on Thursday. According to the report, questions were raised over issues related to the SIR of electoral rolls within the three-member EC itself, time and again by 2 of the 3 Election Commissioners, Sandhu and Joshi.
The national rollout of the SIR has been under the supervision of all three Commissioners. But Sandhu and Joshi have formally objected, on record, at least 14 times over the last 10 months -- four times on a single day -- to decisions taken and orders issued, they said, without their knowledge, according to the report.
Sandhu and Joshi had also opposed the gradual centralisation of the electoral roll database in Delhi, while observing that state-level officials were being denied proper access to the system used to maintain voters' lists.
The revelations of the two commissioners flagged the CEC’s unilateral decisions that led to irregularities in the electoral system.