Agartala, Sep 26 The CPI(M) on Saturday organised a protest rally in Tripura capital Agartala demanding the immediate removal of CEC Gyanesh Kumar, accusing him of “snatching away” the democratic rights of valid voters.
The rally began from the state party headquarters and ended at Orient Chowmuhani in the heart of the city.
It was led by CPI(M) state secretary Jitendra Chaudhury and Left Front convener Manik Dey.
Addressing the rally, Chaudhury alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah had appointed Kumar as CEC to ensure BJP victories in assembly elections in Maharashtra, Haryana, Bihar and West Bengal.
“Former Kerala Chief Minister VS Achuthanandan removed the then PWD secretary Gyanesh Kumar, a Kerala-cadre IAS officer, on charges of taking a bribe from a Malaysian company and ordered a probe. Thereafter, he went on central deputation and started acting against the people’s interest,” he claimed.
Chaudhury alleged that the BJP’s victory in the Maharashtra Assembly elections was linked to the CEC’s “doubtful role” and claimed that the saffron party’s performance in Haryana was also aided by the poll body.
He also accused the Election Commission of deleting 26 lakh voters in West Bengal in the name of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR).
“The en-masse deletion has led to the BJP’s unprecedented victory there,” he claimed.
Chaudhury expressed support for protests in Delhi demanding the removal of the CEC and said the youth-led agitation would strengthen democracy and the democratic rights of people in the country.
The protest rally comes in the wake of a recent report in The Indian Express claiming 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 Election Commission, including on addition, deletion and restoration of voters and changes to the voter registration process.
In the wake of the report, the poll panel officials said the two commissioners had flagged decisions taken during the poll roll cleanup and handling of the voter database in various states.
EC sources maintained that all decisions of the Election Commission, including SIR, have been unanimous and with the approval of both the election commissioners and the chief election commissioner.
(PTI News)
