New Delhi [India], October 9 (ANI): Karnataka Minister Priyank Kharge stepped up the offensive against the Election Commission of India (ECI), questioned the silence of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar, asking "where is he hiding" while multiple political outfits and citizens raise serious allegations of voter list manipulation.
Backing the ongoing demonstrations across the country against the poll body, Kharge alleged that mass deletions of voters from specific communities were being facilitated and questioned how ruling parties were obtaining machine-readable voter rolls.
"Whoever is protesting, whether it's the INDIA bloc or whether it's CJP or whether it's anybody else, everybody's asking the same question: where is Mr. Gyanesh Kumar hiding? Why is he not coming forth and answering the questions?" Kharge said.
Raising questions over internal divisions within the poll panel, the Karnataka Minister claimed that decisions were being taken despite reported dissent from other Election Commissioners.
"Who is allowing the manipulation of Form 6 when two election commissioners are expressing dissent? Who is allowing bulk printing of Form 7 for mass deletion of certain sections of the society? How is it that certain parties in the ruling dispensation are getting machine-readable voter lists? Otherwise, it's not possible," Kharge alleged.
His remarks came after INDIA bloc members visited Raj Ghat, as protests against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar entered their third consecutive day in the national capital on Thursday. Opposition leaders have been demanding his resignation, alleging irregularities in the revision of electoral rolls. The Election Commission and BJP have rejected the Opposition's allegations.
Earlier, in a post on X, Senior Congress MP PChidambaram said nearly 27 lakh names were removed from the electoral rolls in West Bengal during the SIR exercise, of which 22,21,196 people filed appeals before tribunals.
"Unfortunately, few who debate the rights and wrongs of the S.I.R. exercise make their arguments based on facts," Chidambaram said.
He said a little over one lakh appeals had been disposed of by the tribunals, with the number reportedly standing at 1,26,000.
"91-93% of the appeals were ALLOWED, and the names were directed to be re-included in the electoral rolls," he said.
Chidambaram termed the appeal outcomes "damning evidence against the S.I.R. exercise".
"That is the damning evidence against the S.I.R. exercise," he said.
Senior Congress leader and Rajya Sabha MP Jairam Ramesh also launched a sharp attack on the Central government and CEC Kumar, citing a media report that over a dozen judicial tribunal officers in West Bengal had flagged severe functional deficiencies in the Election Commission's appeal portal.
In a post on social media platform X, the Congress leader alleged that the previous West Bengal Assembly elections were manipulated, claiming that the poll panel chief acted at the behest of the ruling dispensation's top leadership.
"More skeletons are tumbling out of the Election Commission of India's closet. Clearly, the PM-HM strategy was to somehow capture and win the West Bengal Assembly elections at any cost. It was a textbook case of mass manipulation and rigging which was overseen by the CEC. The puppet has, of course, to go, but the two puppeteers too have to be held accountable. They stand brutally exposed, and now it is only a matter of time for them to meet their reckoning," Ramesh said.
Ramesh also shared an investigative media report stating that judges of more than a dozen appellate tribunals appointed in West Bengal under the directions of the Supreme Court to adjudicate the deletion of 27 lakh electors under the SIR had formally put on record major hurdles in the ECI's digital portal. (ANI)
"Where is Gyanesh hiding?:"Priyank Kharge targets CEC over electoral roll row, alleges manipulation of Form 6 & 7
