Abhijit Roy Chowdhury
New Delhi, September 23: The Congress on Wednesday demanded the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, accusing him of running the Election Commission in an “authoritarian” manner and marginalising the other two Election Commissioners.
At a press conference, Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi alleged that Kumar had “hijacked” the poll panel and sidelined his colleagues. He demanded that all dissenting notes recorded by the Election Commissioners be made public.
“Dissent is not disruption; dissent is democracy’s protection,” Singhvi said, insisting that the CEC had no right to continue in office.
Citing a 1995 Supreme Court judgment, Singhvi said the CEC was “first among equals” and that the Election Commission was intended to function as a collective institution.
He also questioned alleged changes to Form 6, used for voter registration, and raised concerns over deletions from electoral rolls during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR). Singhvi claimed the exercise could eventually affect around 15 crore voters.
