The Wire reports-
i: Former Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) S.Y. Quraishi has alleged that sitting CEC Gyanesh Kumar, who is in the eye of a political storm at the moment, was found to be “unfit” for key administerial posts before being appointed as the polls body chief .
Quraishi & Gyanesh both reached the post of Secretary to Central Govt. Ministries. Gyanesh's record is more impressive.
“He was not even found fit for the Additional Secretary panel. Later he was also found unfit for the Secretary panel,” Quraishi alleged in an interview with veteran journalist Pervaiz Alam.
Yet, Gyanesh was indeed a Secretary to Government.
Pointing to Kumar’s close relations with Union home minister Amit Shah, Quraishi said, “What is known about this gentleman [Kumar] is that he was very close to Amit Shah. Extremely close – he worked under him in the Home Ministry. He was one of the architects of the removal of Article 370 in Kashmir… Besides that, when the Ram Mandir Trust was being formed, he was the one who set it up.”
In other words, Gyanesh is very good at his job. Was Quraishi equally good? No. But he was Muslim and thus was considered anti-BJP and thus a suitable man for Manmohan to appoint.
Notice that this elderly man is talking to a Muslim journalist. We sometimes speak differently when speaking to a member of our own 'tribe'. Also, it is well known, all these young chaps who are doing the jobs we used to have are totally homosexual and useless from every point of view. I remember when I was running things, I would often call in President Reagan and punitively bugger him so as to communicate my dislike of his fiscal policy. I did the same to Genghis Khan but, it must be said, Reagan was more appreciative.
Gyanesh served as Secretary in the Ministry of Cooperation, which comes under Amit Shah, till January 31, 2024. Before that, he served as the Secretary in the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs under Prahlad Joshi.
Quraishi said that despite being found unfit for the secretary-level positions,
he was appointed as the CEC because the panel that picked him consisted of the prime minister and his “companion” Shah.
Shah is the Union Home Minister. Why pretend he and Modi are bum-chums?
“…Because he had worked so closely with Amit Shah… pressure was applied… and he was made Secretary in the Ministry of Cooperation, of which Amit Shah was the minister.
But he had already been Secretary in the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs! Fuck does this elderly Muslim know about the inner workngs of Babudom under the BJP? He was a Congress stooge, nothing more. His successor- Sampath- was considered fair minded and efficient. Like Gopalaswami- who tried to get rid of the notoriously partisan Chawla- he was Tamil.
In 2023, the selection of the Chief Election Commissioner had to be made… under the new Act the government called three people to consider the names. One was Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He nominated Amit Shah – the person closest to him, his companion – and the Leader of the Opposition. And Gyanesh Kumar was selected.”
How was Quraishi selected? The answer is he was put in by Manmohan in 2006. In Chawla's case, India Today credited Sonia herself as having intervened to promote a loyalist.
Kumar has drawn ire over the contentious Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter rolls conducted under his watch, which has resulted in the deletion of over 13 crore electors across the country.
The allegation is that illegal migrants belonging to a minority religion are being targetted. Hindus approve of this. The BJP hopes to benefit from this perception.
The exercise is being seen as mass disenfranchisement and a violation of the Election Commission of India’s mandate to ensure that all eligible voters attain the right to vote.
Eligible voters should be registered. Ineligible ones should not.
Last month, an Indian Express investigation had exposed how Kumar took unilateral decisions without factoring in concerns raised by election commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi.
If this is true, then Kumar acted ultra vires. The majority rule prevails in the three member Commission. Complaints in a personal capacity do not fall under this rubric.
The Wire itself reports-
The RTI reply includes copies of the two letters, sent separately by Sandhu and Joshi to the Cabinet Secretary on July 29. Both letters refer to Senior Deputy Election Commissioner (Sr DEC) Maneesh Garg, who was given additional charge over the Administration Division while Bhanu Prakash Yeturu was on leave from July 27 to August 9.
Their letters note that “within a few hours of assuming charge” as the link officer DEC (Administration), Garg issued an order regarding work allocation among Sr DECs, DECs and equivalent officers without “discussing or informing” the two Election Commissioners or the Election Commission.
This is a purely internal matter for the Election Commission. Civil Servants defer to the Cabinet Secretary but the Election Commission is an independent Constitutional body- like the Supreme Court. If there were irregularities, it is up to the Commissioners to take appropriate action.
Massive protests demanding Kumar’s removal and the roll back of the SIR then took over the country, with New Delhi as the epicentre of the movement.
Will the BJP benefit from this as much as it benefitted from the anti-CAA agitation? Maybe not. Owaisi is standing apart from it. It is said he is making big plans for the UP election in March.
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