New Delhi: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener Arvind Kejriwal Wednesday came down heavily on the Election Commission of India (ECI), demanding the arrest of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and cancellation of elections held in the past few years and also that of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
Kejriwal’s scathing attack at the poll panel came after report by a leading newspaper, in which it claimed that the two Election Commissioners had “objected on record” to several decisions taken by the poll panel, allegedly taken without their knowledge.
The ECI has however rejected the media report outrightly.
Addressing a press conference, Arvind Kejriwal said: “Special Intensive Revision (SIR), through which names of over 13 crore people across 30 states were deleted, that entire SIR process is illegal because the Election Commission had not officially passed it. All orders related to it are also illegal.”
He demanded the cancellation of the entire SIR process.
“Orders and circulars are being issued without the official approval of the Election Commission. All these orders and circulars are illegal, unconstitutional, and unlawful because they have not been issued through proper approval…For months together, meetings of the Election Commission are not taking place, and Gyanesh Kumar keeps giving orders on his own—issuing directives at his will,” he alleged.
Referring to the report claiming that Electoral Registration Officers’ (EROs) access to the online portal ERONET was blocked and that the two ECs had objected to it, he said: “This means they are adding new names to the electoral rolls and deleting the existing names, according to their own whim and fancies. The power of the EROs, granted by the Constitution, has been snatched away…there cannot be a bigger scam than this.”
“We demand that Gyanesh Kumar should be arrested and prosecuted. All the elections held in the last few years, in Delhi, Maharashtra, Bihar, West Bengal, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, should be cancelled and held again,” Kejriwal asserted.
He underlined that according to the Supreme Court’s ruling, the Election Commission is not the name of one individual.
“It comprises three members…one Chief Election Commissioner and two Election Commissioners. All three participate in meetings, where decisions are taken either unanimously or by majority. None of the three have the authority to take decisions individually. No single person can run the Election Commission or issue orders to its officers,” the AAP chief emphasised.
He added: “The Chief Election Commissioner only chairs and presides over the meetings and does not have any additional authority.”
