Manish Tewari calls for CEC Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation; JPC probe into ECI functioning
New Delhi, Sep 24 (IANS) Amid reports of internal objections within the Election Commission of India (ECI) over decisions related to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), Congress MP Manish Tewari on Thursday termed the matter serious and demanded that Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar resign.
Tewari also called for the constitution of a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) to examine the functioning of the Election Commission.
Speaking to IANS, Tewari referred to the appointment of Election Commissioners G.V.K. Krishnamurthy and Sardar Manohar Singh Gill in 1993, which was challenged by then Chief Election Commissioner T.N. Seshan in the Supreme Court.
He said the Supreme Court had held at the time that decisions should be taken either through consensus or, if consensus could not be reached, by a majority.
“The basic question is that when two Election Commissioners, G.V.K. Krishnamurthy and Sardar Manohar Singh Gill, were appointed in 1993, T.N. Seshan, the Chief Election Commissioner, had challenged their appointment in the Supreme Court. At that time, the Supreme Court had said that whatever happens, it should happen after full consensus, or if consensus is not reached, then things should be decided by a majority. Decisions will be taken on this basis only,” Tewari said.
“Now, if two Election Commissioners are saying that they did not agree with the decisions taken by the Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, then those decisions are illegal and unconstitutional,” he added.
Tewari also claimed that the SIR exercise had resulted in around 13 crore people being removed from the electoral rolls, calling it the “biggest disenfranchisement” in the world.
“If 13 crore people were removed from their voting rights due to SIR, then the biggest disenfranchisement would have happened in the world. The number of people removed is larger than the population of many countries,” he said.
He further called the matter very serious.
“It is a serious matter. After the revelations, the ECI did not even reject the allegations and instead gave strange statements. Gyanesh Kumar should resign. If he does not resign, a Joint Parliamentary Committee should be constituted to examine the functioning of the Election Commission,” he said.
“Earlier, questions were raised by outsiders, but this time, questions are being raised from within. The questions are quite serious,” Tewari added.
Reacting to the mimicry of Prime Minister Narendra Modi during an event attended by Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, Tewari said satire was an integral part of democratic discourse.
“The unfortunate thing nowadays is that an opinion is formed about everything from a very narrow perspective. In the context of any democratic country, satire is an integral part. If you want to completely remove satire from the context of this country and from public discourse, that may be your way of thinking, but it is not the thinking of the country,” he said.
“If you look at the democratic history of India, even around Independence, satire was used against the ruling parties at that time too,” he told IANS.
“Even newspapers and TV channels have used cartoons and satire. If you want to remove satire from the nation, that may be your thought, but this is not the thinking of the country,” he reiterated.
“However, one more thing is important: There should be a limit and dignity,” Tewari added.
Speaking about suicides linked to the drug problem in Punjab, Tewari said that after terrorism was brought under control in the state in 1995, Pakistan adopted a different strategy to target India.
“After terrorism was brought under control in Punjab in 1995, Pakistan started a new war against India through Punjab. The aim was to somehow provide narcotic substances to the younger generation of India and crush their potential, their energy and their youth,” he said.
–IANS
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