Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Thursday stepped up her attack on Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar amid the ongoing controversy over the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
Speaking in Wayanad, Kerala, Priyanka Gandhi alleged that Kumar should face criminal prosecution if the election process was deliberately affected or voter records were improperly changed.
“Anybody who plays around with the democratic process of our elections is committing treason against this nation,” she said.
Priyanka Gandhi questioned why the CEC should receive legal protection if an illegal act is established against him. She alleged that changes to electoral rolls and deletion of a large number of voters would amount to a serious offence against democracy and the Constitution.
“Tampering with the voters’ rolls, deleting, I believe, 13 crore voters… is a criminal act against democracy, against the Constitution, and against the nation,” she said.
She also alleged that Kumar was aware of concerns raised within the Election Commission but still allowed an unfair election process to continue. Priyanka said that if such allegations were established, the CEC should face the same criminal process as anyone else.
Priyanka Questions CEC’s Legal Protection
The Congress leader also raised questions about the legal protection available to the Chief Election Commissioner.
“I do not think anybody in that position should have legal protection in the way that he has—the Chief Election Commissioner has—if they have done illegal acts,” she said.
Her remarks come amid a growing political dispute over the SIR exercise and reports about differences among members of the Election Commission.
What Triggered the Latest SIR Controversy?
The controversy intensified after an Indian Express investigation reported that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had raised objections at least 14 times over a period of 10 months on issues connected with electoral-roll management and the SIR process. The reported concerns included changes to Form 6, access to voter databases, voter deletions and appeals in West Bengal.
The report has led Opposition leaders to question the functioning of the poll panel and demand action against Gyanesh Kumar.
However, the Election Commission has rejected the suggestion that there was a breakdown in decision-making. The poll panel said that the concerns raised by the two commissioners were part of the normal process of discussion and that decisions taken by the Commission, including those related to SIR, were unanimous.
The Election Commission has also said that focusing on individual notes or suggestions without considering the final decisions gives only part of the picture.
Political Fight Over Voter Rolls
The dispute has now become a major political issue, with Opposition parties questioning the SIR process and the Election Commission’s handling of voter rolls.
The Election Commission, meanwhile, maintains that its decisions have been taken collectively and unanimously.
Priyanka Gandhi’s latest remarks are part of the wider Opposition criticism of the poll panel. Her allegations about voter deletions and criminal conduct are political claims and have not been established as findings by a court or investigative agency.
The controversy over SIR, the Election Commission’s internal deliberations and the management of electoral rolls continues.
