Mamata demands CEC arrest amid SIR controversy and allegations (Img: IANS)
Kolkata: Former West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee demanded the arrest of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and alleged manipulation of the electoral process.
Her remarks came after an Indian Express report said that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had raised objections at least 14 times over 10 months to decisions and orders linked to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR). The Election Commission of India, however, said such exchanges were part of its normal functioning.
Mamata Banerjee alleged that the electoral machinery had been compromised and accused the BJP of placing partisan officials within the system.
"This is such a scandalous story. We had never seen this in our lives. This Election Commissioner must be arrested. He has no moral authority to continue, and the BJP must see that they cannot destroy our Constitution. They cannot demolish democracy", Banerjee said at a press conference.
"They cannot depute their own EROs in the name of the BJP IT team. What we had said earlier has now been completely exposed. Gyanesh Kumar has misused the police and, in coordination with the BJP, they have deputed their own BJP-minded people across the system. Such a scandal has never happened before," she remarked.
She also called for legal action against Kumar, saying, "If you have any honour left, you yourself would ask to be arrested. You should be arrested."
The Election Commission, however, rejected the report. In its response to the report, the ECI said written notes, observations and internal checks were normal features of its functioning. It maintained that decisions related to the SIR were taken through established procedures.
“The ECI is a constitutional body that functions under the strict mandate of Article 324 of the Constitution, statutory rules and established institutional conventions. The Commission operates as a multi-member constitutional body. Written notes, observations, technical suggestions and internal checks-and-balances are standard, ongoing practices designed to ensure complete transparency, legal compliance and operational rigour. All actions of ECI have been in accordance of laws and instructions of the Commission. All official orders, decisions and administrative directions issued by the Commission carry full legal sanctions and follow established statutory procedures... Any operational queries or inputs raised by Commission members during draft stages are part of standard administrative practice aimed at safeguarding voter rights. The suggestions given by the Commissioners were for further improving the electoral processes," it said.
The Commission further said differing views and observations were a normal part of institutional deliberation.
