Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], September 26 (ANI): Union Minister HD Kumaraswamy on Saturday said the Election Commission of India (ECI) must come forward and clarify reports of differences among its members amid the ongoing controversy over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
Speaking to reporters, Kumaraswamy said the responsibility of clarifying the situation rests with the poll panel itself and stressed that the country needs to know the facts behind reports of internal differences.
“It is not the question of demands by any party or any leader. The responsibility of the Election Commission, that is important. What is the ground reality? What is going on inside the Election Commission?” Kumaraswamy said.
He said there was a need to distinguish between what has been reported in the media and the actual situation within the poll panel.
“The difference between what we are watching in the media and what is the real fact has to come out by these members. Because this is an important organisation, an autonomous body; why has it happened? That reality they must tell the media and the country. Their responsibility is greater. It is not an easy thing. Those three Election Commission members, including the chairman, what is the problem between them? What is the fault in that? Anything is there, they have to spell it,” he said.
His remarks come amid a political controversy over reports of internal notes and objections within the ECI during the SIR exercise. Opposition leaders have raised questions over the functioning of the poll panel and alleged differences among its members.
The Indian Express has reported that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had recorded 14 written dissents or objections over a 10-month period.
Meanwhile, Jharkhand Minister Irfan Ansari criticised Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over the SIR exercise and alleged that names of voters had been removed from electoral rolls.
Speaking to ANI, Ansari alleged that the ECI had acted in a manner that benefited the BJP and questioned whether the poll panel would work according to the directions of a political party. These allegations were made by Ansari and were not independently established in his remarks.
“I want to ask the citizens of the country, and I even want to ask the BJP voters: Names have been removed from the voter list; your name might have been removed too,” Ansari said.
He also alleged that names of Muslims, Dalits and Adivasis had been deleted from voter lists, claiming that vulnerable sections were being targeted. Ansari further demanded that elections in Bihar be held again, alleging that voters had been removed from the rolls.
“The Commission is an independent, neutral body. No political party should interfere with it,” he said, while alleging that Kumar had interfered and helped the BJP.
Ansari also claimed that the same issue had occurred in West Bengal, alleging that large numbers of names were deleted from electoral rolls.
The Election Commission, however, has maintained that internal notes, queries and discussions are part of its institutional functioning and has said that final decisions relating to the SIR were taken unanimously. (ANI)
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