The Election Commission’s latest clarification on reports of internal dissent sparked a new round of political battle on Saturday, with the BJP claiming the controversy is now defused and the Congress issuing a list of “unanswered questions”.
He added, “Regarding the press release issued today by the Election Commission of India on a public platform, the most significant point to note addresses the allegations levelled against the Commission and political parties, specifically the BJP… Today’s statement clarifies this matter unequivocally. “Gyanesh Kumar Gupta can try, as much as he wants, to hide behind these long press notes. The party’s social media head Deepak Mhaskey posted the photo that was shared by the EC, and wrote: “One photo. One official note. Days of propaganda wiped out in minutes. It had been alleged that there was a lack of consensus within the Election Commission, implying the three commissioners were not united, and that the matter had escalated to the point where the Cabinet Secretary had to intervene. Furthermore, it was claimed that the BJP was using the Election Commission as a pawn for its own defence. It then set out three issues. One called them ‘unauthorised’ and ‘illegal’.”
The latest row began after The Indian Express reported on September 23 that the other two commissioners, Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi, wrote at least 14 objection notes on decisions related to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR). On Form 6, the enrolment form for new voters, the party said, “Two ECs opposed the changes to Form 6.
He cannot simply wash his hands of this mess,” Congress MP and spokesperson Pawan Khera said in a post on X, singling out Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar. Saturday’s clarification, issued after a full-house meeting of the EC, was termed “too lame, too little, too late” by the Congress. Pawan Khera repeated what Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi had said to Gyanesh Kumar, telling him to resign or “turn approver” in the case of alleged voter manipulation. The BJP’s Sambit Patra, however, said the commission’s statement “clarifies this matter unequivocally”. BJP ally Telugu Desam Party (TDP), which had earlier said the EC should address the issue, also cited the press note, with party boss and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu posting on X that the “unanimous clarification… reaffirms the integrity and credibility of our constitutional institutions and puts to rest all the misconceptions surrounding it”. At a press conference in Bhubaneswar, BJP MP and spokesperson Sambit Patra said, “As a political party, it is our duty to place before the public and the nation the facts regarding how the Congress party is attacking constitutional institutions to serve its own vested interests.
