CEC Gyanesh Kumar should resign to protect his dignity, says CPI(M) national general secretary

Communist Party of India (Marxist) national general secretary M.A. Baby on Monday said Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar should resign immediately to protect his self-respect, and warned that clinging to office would be detrimental to him as well as his “bosses”.

Mr. Baby said Mr. Kumar should have already resigned against the backdrop of widespread agitations by Left parties and their frontal organisations, including the Students’ Federation of India and the Democratic Youth Federation of India, as well as other parties and organisations.

In an exclusive interview with The Hindu, Mr. Baby alleged that Mr. Kumar had taken away the voting rights of 13 crore people under the guise of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), which, he alleged, was aimed at deleting the names of people belonging to sections such as minorities, Dalits, Adivasis and other marginalised communities from electoral rolls.

“Voting right is a sacred right in any democracy. A citizen becomes a full citizen when he or she acquires the right to vote. Denying it is a crime against democracy,” Mr. Baby said.

“There is a widespread belief that EVMs can be manipulated and that such methods are resorted to to subvert the people’s verdict. It has been noted that 100% VVPAT (voter-verified paper audit trail) can offer a solution. But it is not being done properly,” he said.

Mr. Baby, who served as a Rajya Sabha member from 1986 to 1998 and as Keralam’s Education Minister from 2006 to 2011, expressed the hope that the CPI(M) would regain its strength in West Bengal and other parts of the country.

“We are on the road to recovery in West Bengal. We will also focus on Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Manipur, Punjab and Goa, where elections will be held soon. The CPI(M) will hold discussions with Left and democratic forces to defeat the BJP in those States,” he said.

“In the given circumstances, strengthening and activating the INDIA bloc is important. Like-minded parties and democratic forces can join the bloc to protect the adult franchise system and democracy in the country. The bloc also wants the support of public intellectuals, artistes, writers and others to achieve the goal,” he added.