New Delhi [India], September 23 : Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Delhi President Saurabh Bharadwaj on Wednesday launched a double-pronged attack, targeting Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged internal dissent within the poll panel while sharply criticising the administration over deteriorating women's safety in the national capital.
Addressing the media, Bharadwaj called for immediate collective action from all political opposition groups, demanding cancellation of all the elections conducted by Gyanesh Kumar following the media report by the Indian Express that had said that decisions taken on the Special Intensive Regulation (SIR) process were objected to by two of the three Election Commissioners.
"I feel that the people of the country will have to take to the streets, and all the opposition parties need to forget their petty fights and come together and send this Election Commissioner, Gyanesh Kumar, to jail. If he is not sent to jail, he will run away and leave the country. So everyone needs to come together; he should be impeached. All the elections conducted by him should be cancelled," Saurabh Bharadwaj told ANI.
Shifting focus to law and order in the capital following the gang-rape of a teenager near the Kalkaji Temple, Bharadwaj expressed grave concern over public safety.
He said, "The park is right behind Nehru Place. It is not as if a girl was raped in some remote, far-flung area. A girl visits the Kalkaji Temple on her birthday in broad daylight, and on her way back, three men gang-rape her in Aastha Kunj Park after claiming to be police officers.”
A report by the Indian Express that had said that decisions taken on the Special Intensive Regulation (SIR) process were objected to by two of the three Election Commissioners.
According to the report, "Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi objected at least 14 times over the last 10 months to decisions taken and orders issued without their knowledge."
Meanwhile, responding to the Express' report, the Election Commission, in a statement, said that all orders by the body carry full legal sanction and any queries raised by members at the stage of drafting procedures were standard practice.
“The ECI is a constitutional body that functions under the strict mandate of Article 324 of the Constitution, statutory rules and established institutional conventions. The Commission operates as a multi-member constitutional body. Written notes, observations, technical suggestions and internal checks-and-balances are standard, ongoing practices designed to ensure complete transparency, legal compliance and operational rigour. All actions of ECI have been in accordance of laws and instructions of the Commission. All official orders, decisions and administrative directions issued by the Commission carry full legal sanctions and follow established statutory procedures... Any operational queries or inputs raised by Commission members during draft stages are part of standard administrative practice aimed at safeguarding voter rights. The suggestions given by the Commissioners were for further improving the electoral processes," it said.
The Commission further said that differing views and observations are a normal part of deliberation in any institution.