New Delhi: Picking holes in the Election Commission’s latest decisions related to SIR row, the Congress on Saturday said Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar cannot hide behind “bureaucratise and protocol” and nothi…

New Delhi: Picking holes in the Election Commission’s latest decisions related to SIR row, the Congress on Saturday said Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar cannot hide behind “bureaucratise and protocol” and nothing short of his resignation or prosecution will suffice.It said the revelations regarding the “unilateral nature” of decision making by the CEC, his “open hatred and bias” against the Opposition, his “willing participation and abetment in vote chori by the ruling regime”, his “specific attack” to prevent the enrollment of Gen Z voters and his “corruption exposed ironically by his negligence in purging and pruning voter lists” needs to be answered for.Election Commission switches to damage control mode after facing flak over SIR rowGeneral Secretary (Communications) Jairam Ramesh said in a statement, “the CEC thinks he can hide behind ‘bureaucratise’ and protocol. He stands exposed and is now petrified as an entire country seeks to hold him accountable.””The ongoing SIR which has turned to be a method of massive disenfranchisement of several crores of India must be suspended immediately without delay. In the meantime, nothing short of the CEC’s resignation or prosecution will suffice,” he said.Keralam ex-Chief Secretary reveals Gyanesh Kumar offered him BJP Lok Sabha seatSharing the statement on ‘X’, he said the EC is in “damage control mode” after it has already caused “massive damage” to democracy and its “wishy-washy” press note raises further questions on its intent, integrity, impartiality and credibility. On the EC’s statement on rolling back declaration form for registration as new voter in non-SIR states among other decisions, he said the poll body is making a defensive attempt to downplay the allegations levelled against it.हमारे लोकतंत्र को पहले ही भारी नुकसान पहुंचाने के बाद अब चुनाव आयोग डैमेज कंट्रोल मोड में है। उसने एक गोलमोल प्रेस नोट जारी किया है, जो उसकी नीयत, ईमानदारी, निष्पक्षता और विश्वसनीयता पर और भी सवाल खड़े करता है। इस बोगस प्रेस नोट पर हमारी यह प्रतिक्रिया है। pic.twitter.com/DLYpkDEgKK— Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) September 26, 2026

He said the EC seeks to justify its actions by referring to the Supreme Court order on May 27, which was “pronounced well before the recent revelations”, and it “will not save the CEC for the malicious deletion of targeted voters, for the incompetence that has resulted in citizens being wiped off the roles, for the crores lost in both expenses and man-hours due to the confusion and harassment caused to entire families”.On the EC’s decision to review the ECINET portal and submit a report to ensure it complies with rules, he said, “aside from being a meaningless safeguard (since the concern is not about the technical soundness but rather the centralization which prevents voter addition at ground level) this confirms the concerns attributed to the two other Election Commissioners per the reportage.”He also said the EC was avoiding answering the questions regarding the deliberate targeting of Gen Z voters. “The ECI has no answer for its targeted disenfranchisement, beginning mid-July 2026 through wholly illegal changes made to Form 6 (unseen and unapproved by Parliament) which placed an unfair burden on them to find and disclose their parents and/or grandparents’ details,” he said.Referring to the extension of deadlines for voter registration in Delhi and Maharashtra, he asked what happens to voters of Karnataka and Telangana. “What happens to the voters disenfranchised in Bihar and West Bengal? Do the voters of these and other states who were deleted due to one man’s corruption not deserve answers?” he said.

Source: Deccan Herald