Kolkata: Trinamool, Congress and CPM came together to demand the resignation of chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and fresh elections in Bengal at a convention organised by the Bharat Jodo Abhiyaan platform at Kolkata’s Moulali Yuva Kendra on Sunday.Trinamool MP Saugata Roy said the way forward for opposition parties would be to impeach the CEC. He said an impeachment notice had previously been submitted to the Lok Sabha Speaker, but it was not accepted.“We will impeach again, but a mass movement must be built before that happens,” he said.Roy also condemned recent attacks on political figures in Bengal, including the former CPM MP and senior advocate Bikash Bhattacharya. “We are in solidarity with Bikash,” the MP said, adding that he had been attacked thrice but was fortunate to not get hurt.Bhattacharya, who represented CPM at the convention, said opposition parties must come together to reform the electoral process, regardless of their own ideological differences.Congress’s Prosenjit Bose said, “The ongoing resistance and public mobilisation by student groups, civil society and opposition parties to protect democratic rights and a fair electoral process are of utmost importance.”The convention, themed on ‘Imperilled parliamentary democracy — nation in peril’ saw discussion on the alleged illegality of the Special Intensive Revision, especially the inclusion of the ‘logical discrepancy’ category in Bengal.Apart from the three politicians, the convention was also attended by retired high court justice Ajay Thipsay, senior advocate Prashant Bhushan and Delhi University professor Apoorvanand Jha.Former judge Thipsay said: “The basis of our democracy lies in the entitlement of citizens to elect their own govt. If you adopt a procedure whereby genuine citizens are deprived of voting rights, the elections cannot have any meaning.”At the end of the convention, a resolution was passed which said, “Scrap the illegal SIR, demand the resignation of Gyanesh Kumar, and conduct fresh elections in Bengal.”
