Chirag: It’s not for government or parties to respond ; EC has to make stand clear

As the Opposition continues to demand chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation in light of recent revelations about dissent in the poll panel, union cabinet minister Chirag Paswan, whose party the LJP is an ally of the Bharatiya Janata Party,   also went public with his concerns

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As the Opposition continues to demand chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation in light of recent revelations about dissent in the poll panel, union cabinet minister Chirag Paswan, whose party the LJP is an ally of the Bharatiya Janata Party,   also went public with his concerns. Speaking to HT, he said that he was asking the CEC to clear serious concerns in the common citizen’s mind.

What concerns you about this EC controversy?

I have a very clear stand on this.I’m not concerned what the opposition is saying. Opposition, most of the time, they try to create issues out of nothing. My concern is that repeatedly, one after the other, if the fingers are raising against Election Commission, it is the responsibility of the Election Commission itself to defend themselves. I, as a political party, cannot defend an independent constitutional body. I don’t have that right, I don’t have those permissions. I don’t have that access, to the internal agreements, disagreements. This is only known by the Chief Election Commissioner, and if the fingers are being pointed, then he should defend himself. He should defend the whole Election Commission. And my biggest concern is that not even an iota of suspicion should come in a normal citizen’s mind concerning the whole election process, because this is the beauty of democracy. India is the largest democracy (in the world), and the Election Commission plays a very, very important role. So here lies the responsibility of the Election Commission, which is headed by CEC, to make sure that not even a single citizen of our country has an iota of doubt over the working of the Election Commission.

But it’s been 3 days since the news broke. Are you worried (about a lack of response)?

Of course, I am worried. I am worried every time these concerns are raised, and they do get amplified by the opposition parties, opposition leaders. If these questions are coming time and again, the Election Commission has to come out and hold press conferences; they have given statements, but now since this is going a little out of proportion.

Did you raise this with your allies?

No, why should I? I mean, I have my own party, and when asked these questions, I have media as a platform to convey this to the Election Commission.It’s their responsibility to come clean. They have done this in the past as well. It is especially important now, you know, when there is talk of impeachment (by opposition).

Would you admit this controversy has created doubts for voters about the entire SIR process?

My concern is that if EC is coming under question, so they should come out and defend themselves. And it is for them to clarify the whole situation. If today opposition is having concerns, tomorrow I might be having issues with the Election Commission’s working because it is an independent constitutional body. We are all equal, when we are talking to the Election Commission.

Do you think the CEC should resign if reports of dissent are true?

I have no idea. I don’t have access to their internal meetings, right? So, I have no idea. I am not going to react to what the opposition is saying. I am just going to react to what the people of the country, the citizens are thinking about this.

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  Sunetra Choudhury is the National Political Editor of the Hindustan Times. With over two decades of experience in print and television, she has authored Black Warrant (Roli,2019), Behind Bars: Prison Tales of India’s Most Famous (Roli,2017) and Braking News (Hachette, 2010). Sunetra is the recipient of the Red Ink award in journalism in 2016 and Mary Morgan Hewett award in 2018.Read More