Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Saturday warned the BJP against continuing to back chief election commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar , saying he would not survive in his position for long. He also hinted at a possible revelation on Kumar at the mock Parliament session held by the INDIA bloc in Delhi.
BJP spokesperson accused Congress of circulating lies about alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. The INDIA bloc unanimously passed a ‘resolution to impeach’ the chief election commissioner. Kumar has been under fierce attack from the Opposition over alleged electoral irregularities and the electoral roll revision. The BJP hit back at Rahul after INDIA bloc leaders’ mock Parliament in Delhi. He also sarcastically suggested that the Opposition should make Rahul its mock prime minister, just as it had held a mock Parliament. Just seat Rahul Gandhi on the treasury benches. Leave the T-shirt, have him wear a ‘kurta-pyjama’ and let him sit there while you chant ‘Prime Minister, Prime Minister’ like a ‘bhajan-kirtan’ every single day. Keep him as your ‘mock Prime Minister’ for life; we have absolutely no objection. He levelled six charges against CEC Kumar over alleged irregularities in the conduct of elections and the revision of electoral rolls.
The BJP hit back at the Opposition’s mock ‘public impeachment’ of CEC Kumar, calling it a “mockery” of democracy and Parliament. Backing the INDIA bloc’s move to seek the ‘public impeachment’ of Kumar, Rahul said the poll panel chief should be tried for “treason” and justice must be served. Party spokesperson Sambit Patra said the exercise was an attempt by the Opposition to launch Rahul as a leader. Taking pot-shots at Rahul Gandhi, Patra said, “And I have a humble request: please, do not dismantle this mock parliament you have created. Describing the Opposition’s mock Parliament as a “drama”, Patra rejected its allegations regarding changes to Form 6, which citizens fill out to enrol as voters, and accused Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge of lying on the issue. Earlier reporting noted: Kharge accuses CEC Gyanesh Kumar of ‘treason’, levels 6 charges during INDIA bloc’s mock impeachment Congress president and Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge on Thursday accused chief election commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar of committing “treason against the nation and the Constitution of India”. Earlier reporting noted: During the mock parliament held by INDIA bloc leaders in Delhi to publicly impeach Gyanesh Kumar, Kharge accused the CEC of being part of an alleged conspiracy “orchestrated by the BJP” to manipulate national and state elections by allowing unauthorised access to voter lists and facilitating the addition and deletion of voters.
Addressing the opposition event, Gandhi said, “Gyanesh Kumar won’t survive as CEC. If the BJP insists on keeping him after what we reveal, we’ll know what its game is.
“It is absurd that the entire Opposition has to sit in a garden to discuss the CEC’s impeachment as every institution is closed for us,” he said.
