SRINAGAR: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Tuesday took a swipe at the BJP over the party's reported demand for Padma Bhushan for Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
On this, Omar said, “Why should you (BJP) stop at Padma Bhushan? Give him (Kumar) Bharat Ratna, the highest civilian award of the country. Two years will be left for the president’s election, make him the president.”
Taking a dig at the BJP, the J&K Chief Minister said the CEC has done much for the party. “He gave West Bengal to the BJP as a gift,” he said.
Talking to reporters on the sidelines of a function, Omar said the Election Commission should do some soul-searching amid allegations concerning the functioning of the poll panel.
“It is not that all the opposition parties are against the Election Commission. No political party has brought the evidence. The evidence has come forward through the investigation of a newspaper. Instead of trying to hide it, the Election Commission should improve its work and try to avoid such allegations...,” Omar said.
According to a media report, two of the three Election Commissioners have objected at least 14 times in the last 10 months to decisions and orders taken on Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, which they said were made without their knowledge.