Ashok Gehlot demands removal of CEC Gyanesh Kumar amid EC row

Former Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot on Wednesday demanded the immediate removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and alleged that objections raised by two Election Commissioners had exposed serious irregularities over the functioning of the poll panel.

Addressing reporters at his residence here, Gehlot said the developments had vindicated concerns repeatedly raised by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi about the national poll body.

"Rahul Gandhi, who was continuously raising these issues, has today been proved right by the Commission's own members," Gehlot said, adding that EC's functioning had led to a loss of people's faith in the electoral process.

A political firestorm erupted after The Indian Express reported that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had red-flagged multiple issues, including deletion of names, in various states during the pan-India Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voters' list.

Gehlot also questioned the manner in which the Chief Election Commissioner was selected and demanded action against him.

"The Chief Election Commissioner should be dismissed immediately," he said, adding, "There should be a situation where he is put behind bars."

Under Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Act, 2023, a selection committee consisting of the prime minister, Lok Sabha Leader of the Opposition, and a Union cabinet minister nominated by the PM, recommends names for CEC and ECs to the President, who ultimately appoints them. The 2023 law gave the executive a two-to-one majority in the selection committee.

Speaking about Rajasthan's recent urban local body elections, Gehlot alleged that ward delimitation had been carried out in a manner favouring the BJP.

He claimed that, on the lines of Assam, "one-sided delimitation" was carried out in Rajasthan, with four wards in areas supporting the Congress being clubbed into one in some places, while some wards supporting the BJP were divided into two.

Gehlot claimed that the Congress was ahead of the BJP in terms of votes in Jaipur, Jodhpur and several other places, but was only 0.94 percentage points behind the BJP in the overall vote share.

He also alleged that several methods were used to influence councillors ahead of elections for municipal heads.

"Horse-trading, distribution of money, picking up councillors, threatening their families, issuing notices to demolish houses and reopening cases that are 10-20 years old — there is no such tactic that was not adopted," he alleged.

He further alleged that police from Haryana and Uttar Pradesh were also used.

Targeting Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma, Gehlot said, "I considered him a good person, but I could not imagine that he would conduct elections in this manner and ruin Rajasthan. It is shameful to take pride in such a victory."

Gehlot also alleged that the Congress and opposition councillors had faced pressure during the civic polls and said the situation required a wider public response.

"By now, Rajasthan should have been shut down," he said, calling upon traders, other sections of society and opposition parties associated with the INDIA bloc to jointly call for a Rajasthan bandh.

Gehlot also appealed to the younger generation to speak up on issues concerning democracy.