Kejriwal Seeks CEC Gyanesh Kumar's Arrest, Re-election in Five States
Arvind Kejriwal has demanded the arrest of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and fresh elections in five states, alleging irregularities in voter roll revisions.
Former Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party national convenor Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday demanded the arrest and prosecution of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, alleging that the poll panel chief was running the institution single-handedly.
Addressing a press conference, Kejriwal said the Election Commission is a three-member body comprising the Chief Election Commissioner and two Election Commissioners, and that no single member has the authority to take decisions independently. He described the Chief Election Commissioner as "first among equals", noting that the position only chairs and presides over meetings without additional decision-making powers.
"Through this press conference, we demand that Gyanesh Kumar should be arrested and prosecuted. All the elections held in the last few years should be cancelled and held again," Kejriwal said.
He called for the reinstatement of electoral rolls from three years ago and fresh elections to the state Assemblies in Delhi, Maharashtra, West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh.
Dissent within the poll panel
Kejriwal's remarks follow a report flagging that two of the three Election Commissioners — Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi — objected on record to being kept in the dark on key decisions, including the addition of new voters and deletion of names. The two Commissioners reportedly termed certain steps on new voters "unauthorised and illegal" and warned against centralising access to the voter database in Delhi, a move they said would bypass state officials.
On concerns over the integrity of voter software, the dissenting Commissioners approached the Cabinet Secretary, marking an unprecedented rupture within the Commission.
SIR process under fire
Alleging manipulation of voter rolls through the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), Kejriwal called it the "nation's biggest scandal", claiming it had shaken the roots of the country. He said the entire SIR process, under which over 13 crore names were struck off voter lists across 30 states, was "completely illegal" as it had not been officially approved by the Election Commission.
The developments have intensified the political row over the conduct of the poll panel and the integrity of electoral rolls ahead of upcoming elections.