Indian Opposition Leaders Demand Arrest and Resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Amid Vote Rigging Allegations
Photo: Collected
India's election watchdog is facing unprecedented backlash from opposition parties following media reports of internal friction among top election officials, with several leaders demanding the resignation, arrest, and trial of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
The controversy erupted after a report published by the Indian newspaper The Indian Express revealed that two election commissioners, Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi, had strongly opposed various decisions made by the commission, noting at least 14 instances of dissent over the past ten months.
In response, India's Election Commission issued a statement maintaining that while differences of opinion naturally arise during deliberations, all decisions are ultimately adopted on the basis of consensus. The commission dismissed the media report as partial disclosure creating confusion.
However, opposition leaders rejected the explanation and launched a coordinated onslaught. Indian National Congress leader Rahul Gandhi posted a video on social media accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, and the election commission of electoral theft, calling it a direct assault on the constitution and vowing that those responsible would face justice.
Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal held a press conference demanding that Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar be arrested and charged with treason, while calling for the cancellation of the special intensive revision of voter rolls and the nullification of recent assembly elections in Delhi, West Bengal, Bihar, Maharashtra, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh. Similar demands for re-elections were echoed by Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Uddhav Thackeray.
West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee took to social media to demand the impeachment and arrest of Gyanesh Kumar, alleging that his actions facilitated the ruling party's victories and demanding that recent polls in her state be declared void and re-held using older voter lists. Her nephew and Member of Parliament Abhishek Banerjee also called for the immediate dismissal of the Chief Election Commissioner alongside a Supreme Court-monitored investigation into the removal of millions of voters' names.
Left-leaning parties, including the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist), issued separate statements demanding Kumar's removal. Senior lawyer Kapil Sibal also joined the chorus, stating that the election commission has lost all credibility and demanding the immediate suspension of the voter list revision process, which he noted has resulted in the deletion of 13 million voters' names.
