BENGALURU: Former chief minister Siddaramaiah here on Saturday demanded the dismissal of Chief Election Commissioner(CEC) Gyanesh Kumar and sought the intervention of President Droupadi Murmu over what he termed serious concerns about the functioning and autonomy of the Election Commission of India (ECI).
Addressing a Congress party protest at Freedom Park against the CEC, Siddaramaiah said the Election Commission was a constitutional body expected to conduct elections independently, impartially and transparently, and should remain loyal to the Constitution rather than function in accordance with the wishes of the Union government.
Siddaramaiah said the President, as the constitutional authority responsible for protecting the Constitution, should intervene if members of the Election Commission were found to have acted contrary to constitutional provisions. He also demanded that criminal proceedings be initiated against the CEC if violations were established.
The former Karnataka CM referred to reports that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had recorded objections to several decisions of the poll panel over the past 10 months.
Siddaramaiah alleged that the developments raised serious questions about the independence of the poll panel and said the CEC should not continue in office if the allegations were established. He also backed Congress leader and LOP in LS Rahul Gandhi’s campaign alleging irregularities in electoral rolls and demanded greater transparency in the functioning of the ECI.
He said the protest was aimed at protecting the autonomy of the Election Commission and safeguarding the constitutional right of citizens to vote.
KPCC president B K Hariprasad, who led the protest, also demanded Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation and said the agitation would be extended to district headquarters from Monday.Chief Minister D K Shivakumar also spoke. Scores of Congress party workers including from its youth wing took part.