Congress Raises 3 Questions After Arun Goel’s ‘Abrupt’ Resignation Before Lok Sabha Elections

New Delhi: In a sudden turn of events, Arun Goel resigned as Election Commissioner (EC) on Saturday, leaving the poll body with only Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Rajiv Kumar at the helm with Anup Pandey’s having retired from the same position last month.

Goel’s term was till November 2027, and he was scheduled to become the CEC in 2025.

Taking to his X handle, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh on Sunday said that he could think of three possible reasons for his ‘abrupt’ resignation barely weeks before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

1. Did he (Arun Goel) actually resign over differences with the Chief Election Commissioner or with the Modi Govt, which does the front-seat driving for all supposedly independent institutions?
2. Or did he resign for personal reasons?
3. Or did he, like the Calcutta High Court Judge a few days back, resign to contest the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls on a BJP ticket?

Jairam also slammed the ECI for declining to meet the INDIA bloc parties over the last eight months on the issue of Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPATs), which he claimed was essential to prevent Electronic Voting Manipulation (EVM). “Each passing day in Modi’s India deals an added blow to democracy and democratic institutions,” he added.

Reacting to Goel’s resignation, the Congress had earlier claimed that the government doesn’t want a “free and fair election.” “It is deeply concerning for the health of the world’s largest democracy that Election Commissioner Arun Goel has resigned on the cusp of the Lok Sabha elections. There is absolutely no transparency in how a constitutional institution like the ECI has been functioning and the manner in which the government pressurises them,” said senior Congress leader KC Venugopal.

A 1985-batch IAS officer of the Punjab cadre, Goel was appointed as Election Commissioner on November 19, 2022, a day after he took voluntary retirement from service. His appointment was challenged in the Supreme Court, which had questioned the government for the “tearing hurry” in which he was appointed. “…The file was put up on November 18 and moves it the same day. Even the PM recommends the name on the same day. We don’t want any confrontation, but was this done in any haste? What’s the tearing hurry?” the court had asked.

The petition, however, was dismissed by a two-judge bench last year.

According to reports, the Modi government may convene a selection committee meeting as early as the upcoming week to appoint a new EC.