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Assam Chief Minister Hemanta Biswa Sarma on Monday hit out at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over his reservations against the exclusion of the Chief Justice of India (CJI) from the selection committee that recommends the appointment of Election Commissioners, saying that it was "ironic," pointing out that such appointments under the Congress government were made without transparency.
"Rahul Gandhi's call for a transparent selection of Election Commissioners involving the Chief Justice of India is ironic, given that during Congress rule, appointments were made solely by the ruling government without any transparency," Sarma posted on X (formerly Twitter). The Assam CM further labelled Rahul Gandhi's concern as "hypocritical", saying that Congress was preaching transparency after years of opaque governance. Sarma questioned the failure of Congress to implement these reforms during their tenure. "If the Congress truly believed in democratic integrity, why didn't they implement these reforms in their decades of power? This hypocrisy highlights their political posturing--preaching transparency now after years of opaque governance. The people of India can no longer be misled by such double standards. Practice what you preach before demanding trust," Sarma said. Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in Lok Sabha and Congress leader, Rahul Gandhi, on Monday lashed out at the Modi government, questioning the removal of the Chief Justice of India (CJI) from the selection committee that recommends the appointment of the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and other Election Commissioners, labelling it as a "calculated strategy". "The rules have been changed. The Election Commissioner used to be chosen by the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition and the Chief Justice. The Chief Justice was removed from that committee. This is a question to the Prime Minister, why was the Chief Justice removed from the committee?" Gandhi asked in the Parliament. Gandhi was referring to the exclusion of the CJI from the Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Act, 2023. Under section 7 of the mentioned Act, the CEC and other election commissioners shall be appointed by the President on the recommendation of a selection committee that consists of the Prime Minister, the Lok Sabha LoP and a Union cabinet minister, who has been appointed by the PM. The LoP said that the exclusion of CJI from the selection panel was a calculated move while claiming that the election dates to the Lok Sabha were postponed. Just before Lok Sabha polls, the Election Commissioner was changed and two new Election Commissioners were appointed, Gandhi added. (ANI)
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