Prithviraj Chavan alleges CEC Gyanesh Kumar violated law, demands his immediate removal

Senior Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan. File Photo

Senior Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan has alleged that Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar acted "completely illegally" and violated the law governing the functioning of the Election Commission, and demanded his immediate removal from the top post.

Chavan's remarks came amid a continuing political row over the functioning of the Election Commission and the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. The controversy intensified after a report said Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had raised written objections on at least 14 occasions over 10 months concerning decisions and orders related to electoral rolls and the SIR exercise.

The Election Commission has rejected the suggestion that the reported objections amounted to institutional dissent or demonstrated that decisions were taken outside the Commission's established procedures. The poll panel has maintained that differences of opinion, queries and suggestions are part of institutional deliberations and that its orders have full legal sanction.

Chavan demands CEC's removal

In a post on X on Sunday, Chavan said serious questions had been raised over Kumar's functioning following the written objections by the two Election Commissioners.

He claimed that Sandhu and Joshi had written 14 letters raising concerns over what he described as the CEC's arbitrary functioning.

Chavan also alleged that Kumar was "helping someone illegally win elections due to his biased policies". The allegation is a political claim by the Congress leader and has not been established by a court or other independent authority.

The former Maharashtra chief minister said the law governing the Election Commission requires decisions to be taken unanimously wherever possible, with matters on which the commissioners differ being decided by majority.

"The law clearly provides that decisions of the Election Commission should be taken unanimously or by majority," Chavan said.

Chavan alleges partisan approach

Chavan has gone beyond questioning the Commission's internal functioning, alleging that Kumar's approach has favoured an unidentified political interest.

"Everything that Gyanesh Kumar Gupta has done during his tenure as Chief Election Commissioner is completely illegal. He has violated the law made by Parliament and the Supreme Court's ruling regarding the powers of the Commissioners," the Congress leader charged.

He also alleged that Kumar was helping someone "illegally win elections" through what he described as a partisan approach.

"If democracy in India is to be protected, he should be removed immediately," Chavan added.

(With inputs from PTI)