Addressing a BJP press conference amid the ongoing controversy over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, Goyal said the Narendra Modi-led NDA government had provided the Election Commission with autonomy to function independently. He contrasted this with the Congress’s record, referring to former Chief Election Commissioners T N Seshan and M S Gill, and questioned whether political appointments and honours extended to former election officials raised concerns about the party’s approach to the institution.
Goyal also referred to the appointments of former election officials in Kerala and Rajasthan, questioning the circumstances surrounding their subsequent roles. He cited the example of Tika Ram Meena, who served as Kerala’s Chief Electoral Officer before joining a Congress manifesto team in Rajasthan, and Ratan U Kelkar, whom he said was named chief secretary by Kerala Chief Minister V D Satheesan after the elections.
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On the process for appointing the Chief Election Commissioner, Goyal said the Modi government had introduced a legal framework in 2023 under which the Leader of the Opposition became part of the selection committee alongside the Prime Minister. He presented this as a change in the process of selecting the head of the poll body.
The BJP minister’s remarks come amid a wider political dispute over the Election Commission’s functioning and the SIR exercise. The Congress and other Opposition parties have raised concerns about the revision of electoral rolls and the impartiality of the poll panel, while the Election Commission has maintained that its decisions on the nationwide SIR were unanimous. The Commission has also announced measures intended to reduce inconvenience to voters during the exercise.
