Sharing the report on X, Congress general secretary in charge of communications Jairam Ramesh described the West Bengal Assembly polls as a “textbook case of mass manipulation and rigging”. He claimed that Kumar had overseen an effort by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah to secure victory in the state.
Ramesh demanded the CEC’s removal and said Modi and Shah should also be held accountable. He added that INDIA bloc MPs, along with other opposition MPs invited to join them, would march peacefully to the Election Commission.
He also described security around the Parliament complex as unprecedented and characterised the deployment as a sign of the government’s nervousness.
The opposition’s demand for Kumar’s resignation intensified on Monday after the Supreme Court clarified that it had not approved modifications to Form 6, the application used by eligible citizens to seek inclusion in electoral rolls.
A bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V. Mohana said it would examine the decisions placed before it and annul any found contrary to law. The court also said it wanted to establish who had authorised the changes when the records were produced.
Congress and other opposition parties contended that the CEC had acted unilaterally in modifying the form for the SIR process. Rahul Gandhi said on Monday that Kumar and others involved in what he described as an assault on democracy would be held accountable.
The dispute has also been fuelled by an earlier The Indian Express report that election commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had recorded at least 14 objections over 10 months to decisions and orders, mainly concerning the SIR.
The Election Commission has rejected suggestions of a split within its three-member body and maintained that decisions concerning the exercise were unanimous. Responding to reports of internal objections, it said differing views were part of institutional deliberations and that its orders had legal sanction and followed established statutory procedures.
With PTI inputs
