New Delhi, Oct 31 AISA president Neha Bora on Saturday accused Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar of conspiring to deprive young people of their voting rights through changes to Form 6 and alleged that the Election Commission had allowed large-scale voter deletions despite concerns over the legality of the exercise.
Speaking at the INDIA bloc’s ‘public impeachment’ event here, she also questioned the law under which Kumar was appointed, saying it violated the procedure prescribed by the Supreme Court to safeguard the independence of the Election Commission.
In March 2023, a five-judge constitution bench of the Supreme Court had directed that appointments to the posts of CEC and ECs be made on the recommendation of a committee comprising the prime minister, the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha and the Chief Justice of India.
Parliament passed the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Act in December 2023, providing for a selection committee comprising the prime minister, the Leader of Opposition and a Union Cabinet minister nominated by the prime minister.
“The Supreme Court laid down a procedure to keep the Election Commission independent and to preserve the sanctity of democracy. By violating that procedure, the sanctity of democracy has been torn apart,” Bora said.
“His very existence is in violation of the sanctity of democracy in this country and the sanctity of the vote,” she added.
On Form 6, used for enrolment of new voters, Bora said the EC had acknowledged in its affidavit before the Supreme Court that it had made modifications to the form.
She alleged that the changes were unauthorised and questioned why the Special Summary Revision process had been bypassed.
“This is Gyanesh Kumar’s deliberate conspiracy to deprive young people of the right to vote,” she said.
Bora also questioned the Commission’s decision to allow the electoral-roll revision exercise to continue despite concerns about the software used in the process.
Referring to the EC’s October 14 affidavit on the formation of a high-level committee to examine its compliance with laws and rules, she asked why the exercise had not been halted.
Referring to the alleged deletion of 13.3 crore voters, including Muslims, women, Dalits, Adivasis and the poor, she said the Commission had heard testimonies from Booth Level Officers and voters about irregularities but allowed the process to continue.
“This is not ignorance, this is not a technical glitch, this is not the problem of a few corrupt individuals. This is an intentional, deliberate conspiracy to tear apart the democracy of this country,” she said.
Bora further accused Kumar of overriding the statutory powers of electoral registration officers by taking cover behind software.
“You override that statutory authority, taking cover behind software, you continuously, one after another, deprive the ordinary citizens of this country of the right to vote,” she said.
Alleging that Kumar had abused his public office to favour a particular political party, she said he had ground the country’s democratic foundations into dust.
“That is why you will not only be impeached – you will be locked behind prison bars,” she said.
(PTI News)
