‘Invisible hand running ECI’: Congress attacks Gyanesh Kumar after Express report on poll panel

The Opposition has trained its guns on the Election Commission of India and Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar after an Indian Express report found that two out of three Election Commissioners complained about being kept in the dark, adding new voters, and deleting names.

Election Commissioners, Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi, called the steps on new voters ‘unauthorised, illegal’; warned against voter database access being ‘centralised’ in Delhi, bypassing state officials.

Reacting to the findings, Congress leader Manish Tewari said the findings suggest an ‘invisible hand is running the Election Commission’.

“If the ostensible facts as reported by @IndianExpress are correct then it seems to suggest that there is an ‘invisible hand ‘ running the @ECISVEEP. If rules were not allegedly followed and decisions were taken that were not unanimous or by majority then all the decisions of @ECISVEEP are per -se arbitrary and capricious if not completely illegal. This is perhaps a fit case for serious considering an impeachment proceeding but more importantly the fundamental question is as to how will the credibility of @ECISVEEP
be ever resurrected,” Tewari posted on X.

Shiv Sena (UBT) Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut targeted Gyanesh Kumar and suggested that the CEC would go to jail. “A-Gyanesh Kumar will go to jail! He will have to go! Their masters will flee the country and run away [sic],” he posted on X.

This is a developing story. Please refresh periodically for more updates.