Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Thursday blamed Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar for destroying the chain between polls and the Constitution, and asked him to “turn approver”.
Congress leader KC Venugopal meanwhile announced protests demanding Kumar’s resignation. He said Pradesh Congress Committees would organise protest marches to state election commission offices on Friday, followed by district-level protests on September 28.
They are also saying the man they believe responsible is Gyanesh Kumar. He has been appointed by Prime Minister of India. This is an attack against legal structure and Constitution. We are not going to let democracy be destroyed. The two EC s have done a wise thing. They have come clean. Gyanesh Kumar should think seriously and he should turn approver. That would be an act of nationalism. He questioned the absence of anti-incumbency against the BJP and Modi, saying every PM and chief minister faces it. “I can understand they win once or twice. But it’s impossible to win three terms. Every Prime Minister or chief minister faces anti-incumbency. But there is no anti-incumbency against BJP and Modi!
Gandhi’s remarks came after a report in The Indian Express said Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had formally objected at least 14 times in the past 10 months to decisions and orders of the poll panel, including those related to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. Because there is a protector of Gyanesh Kumar who is sitting on top,” he said, the reason nothing happened (after) all the letters is.
“The two Election Commissioners have essentially said that votes don’t exist in India. Calling for Kumar’s immediate resignation, Gandhi said, “I want to tell Gyanesh Kumar, you are a highly educated person: the thing that you have done is an act against India. Gandhi alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi , Union home minister Amit Shah , RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, industrialist Gautam Adani , National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and PM’s principal secretary PK Mishra were “conspirators” in what he described as manipulation of elections. Gandhi said.
In the recent past, impeachment notices were signed by Opposition lawmakers, while senior leaders holding key positions in the Houses were kept out of the exercise. Trivedi also criticised Gandhi’s remarks on anti-incumbency, citing the Congress’s electoral record in Tamil Nadu and West Bengal . “He (Rahul Gandhi) stated that anti-incumbency is an established truth in this country and that this phenomenon has persisted since the BJP came to power. I feel that, politically speaking, Rahul Gandhi is devoid of wisdom and knowledge; he fails to grasp the reality. Opposition parties have started collecting signatures for a fresh impeachment notice against CEC Kumar. In a change of strategy, former Congress chief Sonia Gandhi , Rahul Gandhi, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and all Opposition floor leaders are expected to sign the notice.
Anti-incumbency has certainly been very consistent and strong against the Congress,” Trivedi said.
