Kolkata/Hyderabad, Sept 26 (Maxim News): West Bengal BJP president Samik Bhattacharya has said Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar deserves the Padma Bhushan for his role in the revision of electoral rolls and conduct of the Assembly elections in the state.
Bhattacharya praised Kumar for what he described as efforts to ensure that voters could exercise their franchise without intimidation or violence. He also credited the CEC with removing what he called ineligible and alleged Bangladeshi names from the electoral rolls.
BJP Praises CEC Amid Election Commission SIR Row
Bhattacharya’s remarks come amid a controversy over the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. The Indian Express has reported that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi recorded objections on multiple occasions to decisions linked to the SIR process.
Opposition parties have raised questions over the functioning of the poll panel and have sought action against Gyanesh Kumar. A petition has also been filed in the Supreme Court challenging decisions and procedures allegedly undertaken without the concurrence of the other two Election Commissioners.
Against this backdrop, Bhattacharya defended the CEC and said he should receive at least the Padma Bhushan, India’s third-highest civilian award.
He also praised the SIR exercise, claiming that it helped remove deceased, fictitious and allegedly illegal Bangladeshi voters from the electoral rolls. These claims are part of the BJP leader’s assessment of the voter-list revision process.
The Election Commission has faced growing political scrutiny over the SIR process, while the reported objections by two Election Commissioners have added to the controversy surrounding the revision of electoral rolls.
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