New Delhi: The Congress on Monday stepped up its attack on Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, calling for his immediate resignation and accusing him of carrying out what it termed “G2’s illegal orders”.
Congress general secretary in charge of communications Jairam Ramesh alleged that Kumar’s willingness to follow such directions had made him a “liability for the country”.
The remarks came a day after Supreme Court Justice Ujjal Bhuyan said that any exercise leading to the disenfranchisement of millions of citizens would be “intrinsically arbitrary” and amount to a “negation” of the constitutional order.
“No amount of whataboutery can justify it,” Bhuyan said.
Ramesh shared a video of the judge’s speech on X and claimed that Justice Bhuyan had exposed the Election Commission’s position while speaking at NALSAR University of Law in Hyderabad.
“Here is the bold Justice Ujjal Bhuyan speaking yesterday in NALSAR University in Hyderabad, where he exposed the CEC lock, stock and barrel. If he has any sense of shame, Gyanesh Kumar must quit right away,” Ramesh said.
“His (Kumar’s) ability to execute G2’s illegal orders have now made him a liability for the country,” he added.
Ramesh uses “G2” as a reference to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, as reported by The New Indian Express.
Opposition Questions Poll Panel
The Congress on Sunday cited Justice Bhuyan’s remarks to accuse CEC Gyanesh Kumar of violating the Constitution “in letter and spirit”.
“Now the courageous jurist has forcefully expressed his view that the right to vote is very much part of the basic structure of the Constitution. This conclusively proves that the CEC — constitutional functionary himself — has violated the Constitution itself both in letter and spirit,” Jairam Ramesh said.
He added, “Gyanesh Kumar has simply lost all moral right to continue in office.”
The remarks followed a report that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had objected at least 14 times to decisions related to the Special Intensive Revision.
The Election Commission said differences in internal discussions were normal and maintained that its orders were legally valid.
Justice Bhuyan’s Warning
Justice Ujjal Bhuyan made the remarks while addressing the 19th Justice Bodh Raj Sawhney Memorial Moot Court Competition at NALSAR University of Law.
He said the Constitution does not distinguish between citizens who can vote and those who cannot. Any process that disenfranchises millions would violate Articles 14 and 326.
“If any process results in disenfranchising millions and millions of Indian citizens, making them second-class citizens in their own country in the sense of being citizens without a voting right, such a process is intrinsically arbitrary. No amount of whataboutery can justify it,” he said.
“It strikes at the very heart of the Constitution, and I would go to the extent of saying that it is a negation of the Constitutional order which we have adopted based on the Constitution of India,” Bhuyan added.
He said voting rights were linked to India’s freedom struggle and that Article 326 “cannot be tinkered with at all”.
“No authority can do it; no court can endorse it or condone it. No one is above the Constitution,” he said.
Bhuyan said the right to vote was a constitutional right, not merely a statutory one, and was an essential part of democracy and the Constitution’s basic structure. He also cited a Supreme Court ruling that linked the right to vote with Article 326.