Arun Goel suddenly resigned as election commissioner.
New Delhi:
Just days before the date for the Lok Sabha polls was announced, Election Commissioner Arun Goel resigned, causing uproar in the political circles. While he cited “personal reasons” in his resignation letter, sources told NDTV that differences with Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar may have prompted his exit.
Expressing “deep concern”, Congress sounded the alarm about what it saw as a dangerous trend toward the systematic erosion of independent institutions and warned that if not stopped, democracy could be replaced by dictatorship. There are also questions about whether the upcoming election will be conducted fairly.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said in a post on If we do not stop the systematic destruction of our independent institutions, our democracy will be usurped by dictatorships.”
Haq claimed that the ECI will now be one of the last constitutional institutions to fall.
“Since the new procedure for the Election Commissioner has effectively handed over all powers to the ruling party and the Prime Minister, why has the new Election Commissioner not been appointed 23 days after the end of the term? The Modi government must answer these questions and give reasonable explanations, ” said the Congress President.
Electoral Commission or election omission?
India now has just one election commissioner, even though the Lok Sabha elections are due to be announced in a few days. Why?
As I’ve said before, if we don’t stop the systematic undermining of our independent institutions, our democracy will…
— Mallikarjun Kharge (@kharge) March 9, 2024
Arun Goel resigned on Saturday, days before the schedule for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections is expected to be announced. His term will end on December 5, 2027, and he will become the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) after the current incumbent Rajiv Kumar retires in February next year.
The three-member Election Commission of India already has one vacancy, leaving Mr Kumar alone on the polling panel.
According to sources, the date for the Lok Sabha elections is likely to be announced next week. However, Goel’s unexpected departure cast doubt on the previously expected timetable.
Congress leader KC Venugopal also criticized the lack of transparency in the functioning of constitutional bodies like the Election Commission and highlighted the alleged pressure exerted by the government.
“This is very shocking; just before the elections were announced, the Election Commissioner had resigned. Now, there is only one Election Commissioner… What happened to this Election Commission? The entire country is anxious. The Indian government doesn’t want to We want free and fair elections,” the Congress general secretary said.
Mr. Venugopal drew an analogy from the 2019 elections and cited the case of Ashok Lavasa, who opposed clean charges of violating the Model Code of Conduct against the Prime Minister. He stressed the need for the Electoral Commission to remain completely non-partisan in order to preserve democratic traditions.
Venugopal wrote on Attitudes reveal a regime bent on destroying democratic traditions.”
