Veteran BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi | PTI
Reacting to the nationwide protests demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar, veteran BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi rooted for the supremacy of the Constitution, adding that he is neither in the Opposition nor in the government.
The whole thing is to be done under the ambit of the Constitution and if the Constitution is violated then the Supreme Court should look into it," Joshi said.
Call for fair elections, bureaucratic transparency
"Former US president Abraham Lincoln said 200 years back that 'government of the people, for the people and by the people shall not perish from this earth.' Now I say that government of the people, for the people and by the people shall not perish from this earth provided the elections are fair, the governments are accountable and the bureaucracy is transparent," Joshi said.
Warning to government
The senior BJP leader also sounded a subtle warning for the government. Recognising the rising unity of the Opposition, he said, "Opposition is responsive and responsible and has a clear cut alternative programme."
The nationwide demonstrations demanding CEC Kumar's resignation have intensified across India, driven by a coalition of the Opposition INDIA bloc, civil society groups and student organisations.
Electoral roll revisions
At the core of the unrest is the controversy surrounding the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, with opposition parties alleging the arbitrary deletion of large numbers of eligible voters under the guise of process maintenance.
Internal dissent within the Election Commission
Further fuelling public outrage are reports of significant internal dissent within the Election Commission of India, where fellow Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi formally recorded objections to decisions made under the SIR process, alleging that orders were issued unilaterally without proper consultation or consensus.
Street demonstrations and legal battles
In response, intense demonstrations led by Opposition leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, among others, have taken place in major cities including New Delhi, Mumbai, Lucknow, Guwahati and Chandigarh.
Parallel to the street protests, legal petitions filed in the Supreme Court allege constitutional violations and bias in the ECI's operations, leading the court to issue formal notices to both the Election Commission and the Central government.
Protesters continue to demand the immediate resignation of CEC Kumar, a complete freeze on the SIR exercise, and the restoration of electoral rolls to their pre-revision state to ensure no eligible citizens are disenfranchised.
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