INDIA Meet On 'Op Gyanesh Kumar', Sources Reject Attacks On Poll Panel

A key meeting of the Opposition INDIA bloc got underway in the Capital on Wednesday to discuss its strategy for cornering Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar and the Centre after the recent row over the functioning of the poll panel. The bloc is likely to firm up its action plan for a wider agitation against Kumar and the BJP over the SIR issue.

Government and poll panel sources have, however, rejected the Opposition's criticism and defended the SIR exercise and the CEC.

Leaders and representatives of over 20 political parties are attendding the meeting at the Constitution Club.

While Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge will represent the Congress, the Samajwadi Party has nominated two MPs - Harendra Malik and Maulana Mohibbullah Nadvi - for the meeting. This came after speculation over SP chief Akhilesh Yadav's absence from the meeting. The Congress and SP later clarified that Yadav is busy with the UP Rajya Sabha elections and will send his nominees instead.

Other leaders expected at the meeting include Mamata Banerjee and Abhishek Banerjee from the TMC, RJD's Tejashwi Yadav, J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti, Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren, Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray, Supriya Sule of NCP (SP), CPM general secretary MA Baby, CPI chief D. Raja, CPI(ML) leader Dipankar Bhattacharya, and Independent MP Kapil Sibal, among others.

The meet will also draw up a strategy to launch a nationwide agitation. Protests and public rallies against the Chief Election Commissioner will be held across the country, while an impeachment motion will be moved in Parliament.

The meeting is taking place a day after the Congress Working Committee demanded Gyanesh Kumar's removal, calling him a "puppet" of the BJP.

Speaking at the CWC meeting, Kharge accused the Modi government of systematically and conspiratorially hollowing out democratic foundations over the past 12 years. "The Modi government has systematically and conspiratorially hollowed out the strong democratic foundation that our forefathers built through their sacrifices and dedication over the last 12 years," he said.

"Names are being removed from voter lists through calculated conspiracies, and the Chief Election Commissioner has become a puppet of the Modi government. This runs counter to the ethos and spirit of Indian democracy, which mandates that every eligible citizen's vote be secure and every vote be counted impartially," he added.

Kharge said that with elections in five states in 2027, it is essential to ensure that no voter's right is violated. The Congress President said the party must ensure that every person's vote is secure and elections are fair, so that the common people's trust in India's election process remains intact.

Kharge put forth five major demands at the CWC, noting that all data on changes in electoral rolls be made public, all voters whose names have been deleted should get a chance to appeal, and all political parties should be given electoral rolls in a simple format in time. He also demanded that an independent, time-bound probe be conducted where serious anomalies are found and that the poll process be made transparent so no one feels that information is being hidden.

The EC and government sources have, however, rejected the criticism of CEC Gyanesh Kumar, calling it targeted and unwarranted. Their argument is that SIR is a lawful, established electoral roll revision exercise that has also withstood court scrutiny, and that the focus should be on whether the process is accurately identifying eligible voters rather than questioning the Commission itself.

Sources say the primary objective of SIR is to clean up the voters' list by identifying dead, duplicate, fake and shifted voters, while ensuring that all eligible voters remain on the rolls.

The Opposition's demand to restore 11 crore voters would, sources point out, mean putting back names that were removed during the verification exercise without completing that verification.