West Bengal BJP chief Samik Bhattacharya has said CEC Gyanesh Kumar deserves the Padma Bhushan for the Election Commission’s handling of the state polls.
Bhattacharya credited the SIR exercise with changes to the electoral rolls and said the poll process allowed people to vote without intimidation, according to his remarks.
His comments come amid an ongoing political dispute over SIR and reported objections by Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi to several ECI decisions.
Amid protests by Opposition parties demanding the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, West Bengal BJP president Samik Bhattacharya has said the poll chief deserves the Padma Bhushan for the way the Election Commission conducted the state Assembly elections.
Bhattacharya made the remarks on Friday while praising the Election Commission's handling of the polls and the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
“Gyanesh Kumar should at least get the Padma Bhushan. The whole of Bengal is happy because the polls this time did not see any intimidation or murder. People were allowed to vote. Bengal has never seen such an election,” Bhattacharya said.
He also credited the SIR exercise with helping address what he described as illegal immigration and said Kumar was “instrumental in cleansing the electoral roll”.
BJP Leader Credits SIR With Electoral Roll Changes
Bhattacharya claimed that names of people he described as “illegal Bangladeshi infiltrators” had been removed from the electoral rolls during the revision exercise.
“This was no mean achievement,” he said.
Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Bhattacharya had also claimed that the CEC had ensured the removal of deceased and fictitious voters from the rolls.
“People of Bengal wanted a free and fair election and he (the CEC) ensured that,” he said.
The claims come amid a wider political dispute over the SIR and the functioning of the Election Commission. Opposition parties have raised concerns over the electoral-roll revision process and have demanded Kumar’s removal.
Bhattacharya Had Earlier Raised Concerns Over SIR
Bhattacharya's latest praise for the CEC comes after he had himself raised concerns about the electoral-roll exercise before the Assembly elections.
Ahead of the polls, he had called on Kumar to visit “ground zero” in West Bengal and alleged that booth-level officers were uploading false data.
Bhattacharya on Friday also criticised Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, saying, “Congress does not pay any heed to Rahul Gandhi.”
His latest remarks come as the Election Commission faces political scrutiny over the SIR, with the BJP defending the exercise while Opposition parties have questioned its implementation and raised broader concerns about electoral-roll management.
