"Gyanesh Kumar should be suspended, legal action should be taken against him": Sanjay Raut targets CEC

Reacting sharply to an Indian Express report that said that two Election Commissioners had objected to discrepancies in the Special Summary Revision (SIR) process, Raut claimed that elections in India have been compromised and alleged that the Election Commission of India (ECI) functions under the Union Ministry of Home Affairs.

"Gyanesh Kumar should be suspended, and legal action should be taken against him. In this country, elections have become a farce. ECI comes under the Home Ministry," the Rajya Sabha MP told reporters in New Delhi.

Stepping up his offensive, the Shiv Sena (UBT) leader targeted Union Home Minister Amit Shah and urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to dismiss him from the Cabinet.

"The number one criminal is Amit Shah. If the PM wants to save the nation, he should remove Amit Shah from the Cabinet," Raut alleged.

In a contentious remark, Raut further said, "If Modi ji doesn't take action, then I will urge the President, who is the chief of all three security forces, to remove Gyanesh Kumar. If the President also takes no action, then the Army Chief should come forward to save the country from such 'hukumshahon' (dictators)."

According to the Indian Express report, "Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi objected at least 14 times over the last 10 months to decisions taken and orders issued without their knowledge.

DMK Spokesperson TKS Elangovan on Wednesday questioned the BJP and alleged that the party was playing a game with the SIR process.

"The BJP government is playing a game with this SIR. So, they want to remove the Muslims from this country. That is their motive. They want to make it a Hindu country, which is impossible, because as per law, people have registered as voters and living here for quite a long time, and they have to be allowed to live. The government cannot, by way of SIR, cannot remove their names from voters lists. The funniest thing is that former Vice President, former Home Minister L. K. Advaniall these names, they have sent letters as to what is happening. The court had severely condemned it. The BJP's activity, this SIR process, the court has very severely attacked. The Election Commission, the government should take care of it," he said.

The report is likely to blow up further with the Congress calling for a news conference later in the day to be addressed by party MP Abhishek Singhvi. The Congress and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi has been virulent in his attack of the Election Commission and the SIR process alleging that this had led to a theft of voting rights. (ANI)