Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta on Monday said the credibility of India's democracy could not be held hostage to the political convenience of Opposition parties, amid protests demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
Referring to an open letter signed by 124 former IAS, IFS and allied service officers defending the Election Commission's institutional integrity, Gupta backed the SIR exercise, saying free and fair elections required accurate electoral rolls, transparent procedures and strong institutions.
Opposition parties, including the Congress, have been demanding Kumar's resignation, accusing him of enabling large-scale voter deletions and other irregularities in the SIR process.
The controversy comes as the SIR is underway in Delhi, where more than 47 lakh names have been removed from the draft electoral rolls across the capital's 70 Assembly constituencies.
“Congress and its allies cannot question the Election Commission every time the verdict goes against them and invoke democracy only when it suits their politics,” Gupta said.
“Respect for democracy cannot be selective. Neither can respect for its institutions,” she added.
The chief minister's remarks came as INDIA bloc leaders, including Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, marched towards the Supreme Court to press for Kumar's removal.
Earlier, a group of former civil servants and diplomats had defended the Election Commission and the SIR process, arguing that the poll body's credibility could not be questioned solely on the basis of electoral outcomes.
They pointed out that under the same Election Commission, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at the Centre had lost Assembly elections in Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Telangana, Jharkhand and Jammu and Kashmir. The BJP also lost its Lok Sabha majority in the 2024 general election.
“The winners raised no complaint. A system cannot be honest when you win and rigged when you lose,” the former officials said.
The signatories to the letter include former secretaries to the Government of India, former ambassadors, former directors general of police, former state chief secretaries and former directors general of income tax.
(With inputs from PTI)
