Has CEC Gyanesh Kumar Plotted Trouble For Himself By Playing Seshan II

There is speculation that political slugfest over CEC Gyanesh Kumar could all be his own making. The general buzz is that he could be unilateral in decision-making like former CEC T N Seshan and this may not have gone down well with his two fellow Election Commissioners, Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi. The latest controversy erupted over an Indian Express investigative report alleging that Sandhu and Joshi recorded their objections in writing on at least 14 occasions in the last 10 months. Congress leader Jairam Ramesh says “The CEC has deliberately and explicitly violated the spirit of the Constitution and its provisions on citizenship…by illegally amending Form 6 to deprive Gen Z voters of their voting rights…he is a pawn of the cunning duo of PM-HM”. It is being said when ECs Sandhu and Joshi wrote to Cabinet Secretary T V Somanathan complaining about the CEC, he told them it was not remit of the government to give directions to the poll body as it was an independent institution. Soon after the Express expose, alarm bells were sounded within the NDA and regional parties wanted the EC to function credibly and coherently. It then became incumbent for the CEC and ECs to come together to hammer out a joint statement. Even though appointments to the ECI are made as sinecure postings for retired bureaucrats — all the officials on ECI are close to ruling side — there is still a possibility that they may not always contribute to smooth functioning of the poll body. Gyanesh Kumar has been charged with bias towards the BJP, foisting the SIR on the country, which has removed 13 crore voters. The Congress even dubs the EC’s latest offer to get the BLO to visit the home of electors to get documents of those who received notices of discrepancies as an admission of guilt by the ECI.