Kohima, Sep 25 The Nagaland Congress on Friday demanded the immediate resignation of CEC Gyanesh Kumar, alleging that decisions related to the SIR of electoral rolls were taken arbitrarily and without consultation with the other two election commissioners.
Addressing a press conference here, Nagaland Pradesh Congress Committee (NPCC) working president C Apok Jamir cited a recent Indian Express investigation, which claimed that election commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had raised objections on 14 occasions over a 10-month period regarding the CEC’s decisions and orders concerning the SIR process.
“On moral grounds, Kumar should step down,” Jamir said, adding that the Congress considered the issue to have implications for the country’s electoral and democratic process.
The poll panel, however, has maintained that differences of views are part of deliberations in a multi-member constitutional body and that all final decisions, including those concerning the SIR, were taken unanimously.
On SIR in the state, Jamir said the Congress would support the exercise if it was conducted transparently and in accordance with its stated purpose.
“If it is conducted fairly, we have nothing to say,” he said, while expressing concern over the deletion of more than one lakh electors from the rolls in the state.
Jamir said any deletion of names should be based on proper verification and warned that if names were removed unfairly, it could have political consequences.
He also questioned the requirement of furnishing parents’ names in Form 6, alleging that the provision could be used to examine the background of applicants and determine who should be accepted or rejected.
The NPCC working president further alleged that irregularities in electoral-roll revision in other states, including Bihar and West Bengal, had raised concerns about the integrity of the process.
He said the Election Commission, as an autonomous constitutional body, should function transparently and maintain the confidence of the people.
(PTI News)
