Chennai: DMK president and former chief minister M K Stalin on Wednesday demanded that chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar step down immediately over allegations that he had acted unilaterally, without the concurrence of the other two election commissioners. In a statement, Stalin demanded an immediate halt to the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and wanted a thorough investigation into alleged irregularities in the exercise.Citing an investigative media report, Stalin said DMK and other opposition parties had consistently opposed the “deletion of crores of voters from electoral rolls in the name of SIR”. He said the exercise was rushed through months before elections in several states and had sparked widespread unrest, particularly in West Bengal.Stalin said the report had raised serious doubts about the results of assembly elections held after SIR. He alleged that Kumar acted in secrecy and without consulting election commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi. He said Election Commission was a three-member body whose business should, as far as possible, be transacted unanimously, while differences must be decided by a majority. Keeping two commissioners unaware of decisions taken in commission’s name could not be treated as merely an internal or procedural matter, he added.Stalin said DMK and other opposition parties moved an impeachment motion against Kumar in early March. “He has no right to continue in office any longer,” he said.
