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Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) chief Mukesh Sahani on Thursday slammed Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar over an investigative report revealing serious internal rifts within the poll panel. Sahani accused the Election Commission of India (ECI) of functioning as an "arm of the BJP" and murdering democracy.
Speaking to ANI,the VIP supremo expressed outrage over alleged electoral discrepancies and the panel's decision-making. "I have stated that I am deeply hurt by the way democracy is being murdered in the country. The way the Election Commission is functioning, if I were to be pardoned for one murder, I would shoot them. Our ancestors too had adopted this path for the freedom of the country... They are indulging in election fraud. The Election Commission is working for the BJP," he said. This comes following an investigative report by The Indian Express, which uncovered unprecedented internal friction inside the top tier of the Election Commission. According to the findings, Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi raised at least 14 formal objections on record over 10 months to decisions they said were issued without their knowledge or approval. The objections pointed to a bypassing of the majority rule, noting that key decisions related to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls were taken without the constitutionally required consensus among the three commissioners. The two commissioners also flagged procedural changes, including modifications to new voter registration Form 6 and centralisation of the electoral roll database, terming them "unauthorised and illegal". The dissent escalated to the point where Commissioners Sandhu and Joshi wrote directly to the Cabinet Secretary, complaining about altered work allocations that affected IT oversight. Sahani further asserted that the opposition would hold election officials accountable if they come to power in the future. "Our ancestors too had adopted this path for the freedom of the country... They are indulging in election fraud. The Election Commission is working for the BJP," he alleged. The Election Commission, meanwhile, said the reported queries and observations by its members were part of its normal internal functioning. The poll panel said written notes, technical suggestions and internal checks were standard practices aimed at ensuring legal compliance and safeguarding voter rights. The ECI also maintained that all its official decisions, including those concerning SIR, had full legal sanction and that the final decisions of the Commission were unanimous. The report has triggered sharp reactions from Opposition parties, with several leaders demanding greater scrutiny of the Election Commission's decision-making process and questioning Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar's functioning. The BJP, meanwhile, has defended the poll panel and described internal deliberations as part of democratic functioning. (ANI)
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