Kolkata, Sep 23 The West Bengal unit of the CPI(M) on Wednesday demanded the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar after objections raised by the two election commissioners on the Special Intensive Revision of voter lists came into the open.
CPI(M) West Bengal state secretary Mohammed Salim said the report by a newspaper on this raised serious questions about the SIR process.
“Gyanesh Kumar should be removed from his position,” Salim said.
The Indian Express reported that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had formally objected at least 14 times over the past 10 months to decisions and orders of the EC, including on addition, deletion and restoration of voters and changes to the voter registration process.
Left parties have demanded removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and an immediate halt to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise.
The CPI(M) state unit also uploaded an old video of the state secretary in which Salim had alleged that the EC is unable to function in an independent manner, and accused the Narendra Modi government of putting “hand-picked” officers at the helm of constitutional bodies.
Salim has said constitutional provisions were made to ensure that the Election Commission remains above any suspicion or accusation of playing a partisan role.
“But the way the Modi government has appointed hand-picked officers from among the bureaucrats has led to suspicion among the people of the country,” he had said at a public meeting, the video clip of which the party shared afresh.
The CPI(M) leader had said it was the responsibility of the Election Commission to “redeem their prestige, but it has failed to do so.”
The Left party has held several protests over the SIR process in West Bengal, demanding that the ECI must ensure that all genuine voters are included in the electoral rolls.
(PTI News)
