SIR row: Uddhav demands CEC's sacking, jail; NCP (SP) calls for all-party meeting

Opposition parties in Maharashtra on Wednesday stepped up their attack on the Election Commission of India ECI over reports that two Election Commissioners had raised objections to decisions linked to the Special Intensive Revision SIR of electoral rolls While Shiv Sena UBT chief Uddhav Thackeray demanded the sacking and jailing of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar the Nationalist Congress Party Sharadchandra Pawar called for an allparty meeting over the issue news agency PTI reportedMeanwhile senior Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan urged the Supreme Court to take suo motu cognisance of the media report and examine the functioning of the Election Commission He also appealed to Opposition parties to ldquoinitiate proceedingsrdquo for the removal of the CECThackeray demanded that the last assembly elections in Maharashtra West Bengal and Tamil Nadu be nullified and fresh polls be held in the three states using ballot papersThe Oppositions reactions came after a newspaper report stated that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had raised objections to multiple issues including voter deletions during the panIndia SIR exercise The report said the two commissioners had formally objected to decisions and orders on several occasions over the past 10 monthsThe ECI however rejected the suggestion that the reported internal notes indicated a breakdown in its functioning In a statement on Wednesday the poll panel said differing views and observations were a normal part of deliberations in a multimember constitutional body and that its orders carried full legal sanction and followed established statutory proceduresThe Commission also said that not only the three Election Commissioners but every officer of the ECI was authorised to offer suggestions to improve the electoral systemUddhav Thackeray demands CECs removalldquoGyanesh Kumar should be immediately sacked and jailed because he has murdered democracy and insulted the Constitutionrdquo Thackeray told a news conferenceHe claimed that the two Election Commissioners had ldquorevolted against Kumarrdquo and said it could be ldquoassumed that they have removed CEC because they have the majority nowrdquo Thackeray also said the two commissioners should cancel what he described as wrong decisions taken by the poll panelHe further demanded that the elections in Maharashtra West Bengal and Tamil Nadu be declared invalid and repolls conducted using ballot papersThackeray also claimed that 90 lakh voters had been deleted in West Bengal and 70 lakh in Tamil Nadu during the SIR process He said 45 lakh voters were added in Maharashtra ahead of the 2024 Assembly Elections and alleged that objections had now been raised against 40 lakh citizens on the electoral rollsThe Sena Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray chief alleged that the poll body had been following a pattern of ldquostealing and killing democracyrdquoldquoThey first freeze the symbol and then give a partial decision They used it for Sena UBT NCP and now TMC Shiv Sena UBT is an example of how decisions have been given on whims and fanciesrdquo he addedMeanwhile Aaditya Thackeray alleged that the Election Commission had turned India into the ldquoworlds largest former democracyrdquoldquoWorking as agents for one party to finish off Indias democracy they have snatched away the voting rights of millions of Indiansrdquo he saidldquoWhat started with the Universal Adult Franchise elections when India won its Independence has now been turned into selected voter rolls by this institution The institution itself once impartial is now a fraudrdquo Aaditya Thackeray allegedShiv Sena UBT Member of Parliament MP Sanjay Raut also called for action against Kumar and urged the judiciary to take cognisance of the media reportldquoGyanesh Kumar will go to jail He will have to go Their masters will flee the country and run awayrdquo Raut said in a post on XHe also demanded the removal of Union Home Minister Amit Shah from the Union Cabinet and said legal action should be taken against the CECldquoIf Modi ji isnt taking action against Gyanesh Kumar then I appeal to the President to sack the CECrdquo stated RautNCP SP seeks allparty meetingThe NCP SP described the reported differences among the Election Commissioners as a ldquoConstitutional emergencyrdquo and called for an immediate allparty meetingNCP SP MP Supriya Sule said the issue concerned the constitutional rights of every citizen and should not be treated merely as a political matterldquoIf the system itself is going to collapse whom should we trustrdquo Sule told reporters in DelhiShe said the matter was ldquovery very seriousrdquo and required an open discussion involving all political partiesldquoThis is not merely a political issue It concerns the rights of every citizen of the country It has now become a national issuerdquo Sule saidAsked whether CEC Gyanesh Kumar should ldquostep asiderdquo Sule said there should first be an open discussion on whether the allegations were trueNCP SP General Secretary Mahesh Tapase also sought an explanation from the CEC over the reported objectionsldquoWhen such things happen every citizen of this country must sit up and ask who is really running our electionsrdquo Tapase saidHe stated that deliberately bypassing collective decisionmaking was not an administrative lapse but a ldquohijacking of a Constitutional institutionrdquoTapase demanded an ldquoopen explanationrdquo from the CEC on ldquowhy decisions were taken despite the written objections of two sitting CommissionersrdquoPrithviraj Chavan seeks Supreme Court scrutinySpeaking to PTI Videos in Delhi Chavan urged the Supreme Court to take suo motu cognisance of the media report and examine the Election Commissions functioningHe said the apex court could summon all three Election Commissioners call for their files and examine how decisions had been taken in recent daysldquoThe Supreme Court should investigate what is happening at the Election Commission The court can exercise its powers under Articles 32 and 142 of the Constitutionrdquo the former Maharashtra chief minister statedChavan also urged the Opposition to initiate proceedings for the removal of the CECldquoThe Congress party Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi and all opposition parties should immediately initiate proceedings for the removal of the Chief Election Commissioner The Constitution provides for the removal of the CEC in the same manner as a Supreme Court judgerdquo he addedECI says internal notes and differing views are part of routine decisionmakingThe ECI has maintained that written notes observations and technical suggestions by commissioners and officers are part of its routine internal checks and that final decisions taken by the full Commission were unanimous It said highlighting selected internal notes over a 10month period without considering the wider body of approvals decisions and initiatives presented only one part of the pictureWith PTI inputs