Srinagar, Sep 26 Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Ghulam Nabi Azad on Saturday called on the opposition to unite and raise their voices amid growing demands to sack Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over the controversy surrounding the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
Speaking to reporters in Anantnag, the former Union minister questioned the credibility of the elections after the SIR.
Azad’s comments follow reports of differences within the Election Commission over aspects of the SIR exercise and growing demands for removal of Kumar.
“For the past few years, many questions were raised, and fingers pointed at the Election Commission. But political parties could not find any concrete proof. However, this time, two election commissioners have themselves revealed, not once but more than a dozen times, that they questioned and raised objections with the chief election commissioner. But the CEC did not listen to them and acted arbitrarily,” Azad said.
“Now the question arises: should the elections that took place, after names were struck off. Therefore, the demand being made by the opposition is not wrong,” he added.
Azad said the views of the two election commissioners who expressed differences over the SIR should be taken seriously.
“It (the opposition’s demand) would have been considered wrong if it were merely an allegation. But all three (commissioners) were appointed by the current government. So, if two of them are saying this, we should trust it and believe those two people, and action should be taken on it,” he added.
Azad was referring to the news report that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had raised objections on 14 occasions over decisions and orders related to the SIR exercise.
The Election Commission has maintained that differing views and observations are a normal part of institutional deliberations. The poll body has asserted that its orders have full legal sanction and follow statutory procedures.
Azad called on the opposition parties to unite to raise their voice.
“Now the opposition should unite, decide in Parliament, and raise their voice,” he said.
Azad, who left the Congress to float his Democratic Progressive Azad Party, said Indians have a sense of pride as a country that used to have free and fair elections, but claimed it is now getting difficult to retain that.
“We too used to travel around the world when we were in government, and as Indians, we had a sense of pride — which we still have today — but one great point of pride was that India is the world’s largest democracy, and the cleanest elections happen in our country,” he said.
“No matter how powerful the ruling regime or ruler was, they would still lose elections. An example is Indira Gandhi. She was such a powerful prime minister, but in 1977, her party lost, and she herself lost as well. So this example was cited all over the world,” he added.
Azad added that with questions being raised against the Election Commission, “We might not retain that pride, or we might not be in a position to claim that on an international level.”
“Will people even believe it? Even if we say it, people need to believe it. That is why this has become a very major issue,” he said.
(PTI News)
