'1 Man, 10 Votes. 2 Men, 0 Votes': Abhishek Singhvi's Dig At Poll Body Chief

Reacting to a report highlighting critical problems in the Election Commission's functioning, Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi accused Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar of violating a foundational principle of democracy. While one person gets one vote in elections, the top election officer got 10, whereas the other two election commissioners got none, he quipped.

"The funny part is that one man, one vote, one woman, one vote is part of the basic structure of the Constitution. Because without this, you can't have free and fair elections. And the funny part is that this Election Commission, which is the policeman for one man, one vote and fair elections, is itself not having one man, one vote. It is having one man, 10 votes and two men, zero votes," he said, referring to an Indian Express report that claimed Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had objected to several decisions taken by the poll body without keeping them in the loop.

Also read: Disagreement Sign Of Democracy: BJP Slams Opposition On Poll Body Row

"So, you don't have one man, one vote within the Election Commission; what will it entrust to the country?" he added.

The newspaper reported, citing its investigation, that Sandhu and Joshi had formally objected "on record" at least 14 times to several poll body decisions. One of these decisions is an amendment to Form 6, a form that every adult has to fill to become a voter. The report said a new question was added to the form about the existence of parents or grandparents in the "electoral roll of last SIR".

According to the report, the two Election Commissioners also flagged the alleged centralisation of the electoral roll database.

The Election Commission brushed the allegations aside, arguing, "Differing views and observations are a normal part of deliberation in any institution."

The poll body said the report highlighted internal notes spread over a period of 10 months but overlooked approvals, decisions, instructions, and initiatives.

The Congress leader said the poll body's response was a "generic, delightfully vague, Alice in Wonderland" statement.

"This is like a statement of a king, an emperor from the top of a mountaintop speaking to his poor feudal subjects, surveying all that he wants in his freedom and imagining in his arrogance and infallibility that he can do no wrong," he said.

"Not giving decentralised power to the EROs has become a real issue. Filing 1.6 million appeals without any apparent authorisation from the Election Commission as a collective is a real issue. Who is going to answer these? Not with this blanket answer today," he added.

Singhvi claimed that the Election Commission statement did not address any points raised in the report.

Also read: "Unanimous Decisions Of Full Commission": Election Body On 'Dissent' Report

"Have they answered as to why Form 6 has not been amended (to its previous version)? When your son, who turns 18 tomorrow, or my son, who turns 18 tomorrow, files an application to become a first-time voter, they would say, ' Yes, we will look at your application, but first tell us whether your grandfather, grandmother, father or mother was in the SIR list," he said.

He highlighted that 13 crore voters have been excluded from the electoral rolls through SIR. "What about the children of those 13 crore who turn 18 tomorrow, next year? What about the children or grandchildren of the 13 crore who are turning 18 this year? When they apply, they will be told that 13 crore of your parents have been, anyway, unlisted," he said.

BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra insisted that deliberations between the commissioners reflect democracy.

Singhvi said that in his press conference, Patra did not answer pertinent questions.

"Does any single answer of Sambit Patra on behalf of the BJP give any single fact which sounds like an answer to you?" he said.

He promised that the Congress would seek Gyanesh Kumar's resignation.

"There is no doubt that we call for his resignation, and we call for an impeachment motion which has already been filed. We don't know what happened to it. But I am sure it will be filed again," he vowed.