Ahmedabad:
Former Gujarat chief minister Shankarsinh Vaghela has made a controversial comment about Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar, who has been facing huge protests organised by Opposition party leaders over alleged irregularities in carrying out the voter roll cleanup exercise Special Intensive Revision (SIR).
The BJP hit back, saying the Opposition bloc INDIA is trying again to create anarchy and relaunch Rahul Gandhi. Union minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said the Opposition’s protest in Delhi was meant for “venting their frustration” over election losses by making baseless allegations against constitutional bodies.
Vaghela, who has also served as a Union minister, told NDTV that extreme measures are needed against authorities who compromise electoral integrity. “Such election commissioners should be publicly hanged for murdering democracy. They should be eliminated now. That’s what they deserve. No mercy should be shown to them,” Vaghela said.
BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra accused Rahul Gandhi of trying to spread “confusion” and “boost his politics” by misquoting the Supreme Court, which is looking into the issue of whether Gyanesh Kumar single-handedly exercised powers constitutionally designated for the entire multi-member poll body which also includes the two election commissioners (ECs).
In more strong remarks likely to raise a huge row, Vaghela said those responsible for democratic processes deserve no leniency.
His comments came amid the protests by Opposition party MPs including the Congress’s Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra outside the Election Commission of India’s (ECI) office in central Delhi.
They have been demanding the resignation of the CEC, citing the SIR controversy and a report by the Indian Express said the two election commissioners “objected on record” several decisions taken by the poll body allegedly without their knowledge.
Referring to the protests in Delhi, Vaghela alleged top election officials have been working as ideological agents instead of serving as neutral constitutional custodians.
“The election commission is meant to be independent. But today’s team, especially Gyanesh Kumar, consists of officers affiliated with the RSS,” Vaghela said, pointing at the BJP’s ideological mentor Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
“Their masters, their owners, follow the RSS ideology where they show devotion to the Sangh before the nation. When such Sangh-devoted individuals hold positions under the prime minister or home minister and act solely on their instructions, why wouldn’t they do this?” Vaghela, who has worked with both the BJP and the Congress in his long political career, told NDTV.
The detention of leaders during the protests in Delhi was something which was expected in public life while criticising the ruling power’s tactics, he said. “Put people inside, do whatever you want. The BJP keeps innocent people in jail for years; they are anti-human. They lack human values.”
To curb institutional bias, he called for strict structural reforms including not allowing retired people to take up any work for a set period. “There should be a rule that anyone retiring from the judiciary cannot take up any position for 10 years. Officers like IAS or IFS should not join private entities post-retirement,” the leader who now runs his own regional outfit, Praja Shakti Democratic Party, told NDTV.
Vaghela also referred to his recent comments on sanitation work and reservation policies which had gone viral, and asserted that he only wanted to highlight social inequality and defend affirmative action.
“A mother carrying waste on her head doesn’t even have clean clothes or soap to wash her hands before feeding her child. That’s why reservation exists. If you oppose it, go do that work, and I will give you Rs 50,000. That was the spirit of my statement. I never spoke against any community,” Vaghela said.
To a question about speculation over whether he would rejoin the Congress, he gave a cryptic answer: “To defeat the BJP, we will do whatever it takes. To defeat the BJP, I don’t want anything from Congress – just proper teamwork, advance planning and defeating the BJP. My full 100 per cent contribution will be there.”
He dismissed the long-term viability of making bureaucrats do heavy-lifting work, adding administrative backgrounds do not automatically translate into effective political leadership. “Bureaucrats can never become successful political leaders; they can be good administrators, but leadership requires a different vision,” Vaghela said.
