Infighting in the Election Commission has come out in the open. Charges have been levelled against the Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar for hijacking the EC.
Those levelling charges are none other than his two colleagues, the two Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sadhu and Vivek Joshi. They have alleged that Gyanesh Kumar is running the EC arbitrarily, he is not listening the advice of his two colleagues and they get news about his decisions from the media.
According to The Indian Express report, both the Election Commissioners raised red flags 14 times in the last ten months, wrote letters to the Cabinet Secretary, but did not get any response. The charges are clear.
The CEC does not attach any importance to the advice of his two colleagues and several times, key decisions are taken keeping the two ECs in the dark. Sandhu and Joshi have alleged that the working of Election Commission is being centralized and all key decisions are taken in Delhi.
The powers of election officials on the ground are being curtailed. In its statement , Election Commission said: “All official orders, decisions and administrative directions issued by the Commission carry full legal sanctions and follow established statutory procedures.”
The ECI said, focusing on certain internal notes and observations over a 10-month period, while ignoring the larger body of approvals, decisions, instructions and initiatives, presents only “one part of the picture”.
It claimed: “All these decisions are an outcome of the unanimous decisions of the full Commission in the past one year.” The ECI said, platforms like ECINet operate under “strict data security protocols” designed to prevent unauthorised tampering and manipulation.
IT security checks and audit controls are standard cybersecurity measures implemented across national databases. The ECI said, Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) and District Election Officers (DEOs) continue to function according to their statutory powers for voter registration and deletion under the law.
It is no more a secret that Gyanesh Kumar considers ECI as his ‘jaagir’ (estate). He does not care two hoots about the fact that his two colleagues are equal to his rank, nor he bothers about the fact that the Election Commission’s reputation has been badly damaged because of his attitude.
Questions have arisen about the ECI’s credibility. If the names of leaders like Lal Krishna Advani, the Election Commissioner Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and the CBI director undergo a checking process, questions will be raised. Who is going to trust the Election Commission?
The replies that the ECI has given in its press statement does not clarify: Whom did Gyanesh Kumar consult before giving the command of Election Commission data to his favourite officers? Why was the access to the command that controls the voter list update limited to a few?
Gyanesh Kumar is silent about on whose instruction or advice did he order changes in Form-6? Is it not a matter of shame that the other two ECs were getting information about ECI activity from the media?
The claim made by the CEC that all decisions were taken together. If all decisions were taken harmoniously together, why did the two Election Commissioners send complaints? Why did the news about infighting in ECI spill out? Gyanesh Kumar has to reply.
The responsibility of ECI is to conduct free and fair elections in cooperation with all political parties. Election is the lifeline of our democracy.
Questions that have been raised over the electoral process, on voter lists, on SIR need answers. It’s not the ECI, but Gyanesh Kumar must reply.
EC dispute : Opposition gets gunpowder for digital media
The top opposition leaders who were lying listless and desperate after a string of assembly election defeats have suddenly got a fresh dose of tonic. Mamata Banerjee, Uddhav Thackeray and Arvind Kejriwal reacted as if Gyanesh Kumar has committed a murder.
They demanded he should be arrested and sent to jail. Some other leaders said, the alliance of opposition parties must be revived. For the Congress, the problem is Narendra Modi. The Congress reaction was, Gyanesh Kumar was acting as the puppet of the PM.
On the whole, opposition leaders got the chance to claim that they were not defeated by the people in elections, but they lost because of ECI. The Indian Express report gives a different story. The report says, the number of TMC candidates who lost in Bengal because of the ECI is almost equal to that of BJP candidates who lost.
Questions will also be asked why Congress opposed Sukhbir Singh Sandhu’s appointment. He is being projected as a hero today by the opposition, The new narrative that has now been set provides fresh gunpower to the ongoing digital media war. This will be sufficient for raising the tempo for a few days.
UP campaign : Is Yogi ahead of Akhilesh, Mayawati?
Samajwadi Party supremo Akhilesh Yadav has been making new poll promises every day. Today he launched his PDA yatra from Bachhrawan, Raebareli.
Raebareli is Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s constituency. Congress is SP’s ally in UP, but Akhilesh Yadav neither informed, nor invited Rahul to his yatra. Congress MP Imran Masood said, Akhilesh must remember that ‘hand’ is necessary to run a ‘bicycle’.
If any leader thinks he can defeat the BJP in UP, he will face the fate of Mamata Banerjee and Arvind Kejriwal. Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati has also become active. She announced that her party would go alone in UP, Uttarakhand and Punjab polls. She anointed her second nephew Ishan Anand as the party national coordinator.
Both Mayawati and Akhilesh are busy keeping their houses in order, but UP CM Yogi Adityanath’s strategy is different. Yogi is busy distributing appointment letters, announcing new schemes and in the process, he is targeting the opposition.
He launched Bharat Taxi app, Krishak Samridhi Yojana portal and Setu app. He distributed loan cheques to farmers, and certificates to taxi drivers. Akhilesh Yadav has also started making promises to build houses and provide jobs, but his alliance with Congress is proving to be a speed breaker.
Mayawati is still busy with her family. The stress is on which leader should be allowed to sit with her on the dais and deliver speech. Mayawati must realize that the world has now changed. She has to go among the people to canvass votes.
Swami Ramdev : “I am in fine health, stop spreading lies”
Yog guru Swami Ramdev is nowadays angry over lies being spread on social media. Swami Ramdev said, he popularized Yoga and Ayurveda throughout the world and gave tough competition to multi-national companies.
“This is the reason why lies are being spread about me”, he said. Swami Ramdev clarified that his heart, brain, liver and kidney are in fine condition and his knees will last another 100 years. Social media is agog with fake news about Swami Ramdev undergoing treatment in AIIMS.
Those who spread such rumours must watch India TV’s Yoga show daily in the morning when Swami Ramdev teaches yoga LIVE to viewers. Vicious campaign is launched on social media against Patanjali products.
One can understand Swami Ramdev is giving tough competition to multinational companies, but one must not forget how he toiled hard to reach Yoga to every home.
Swami Ramdev has scored success in Patanjali business, but when he spends a large part of his earnings on teaching Vedic education, Sanskar, Veda and Puranas for the propagation of Sanatan Dharma, his efforts must be appreciated.