Hours before the Opposition sought a meeting with President Droupadi Murmu to raise allegations of mass disenfranchisement and demand Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar’s removal, CPI(M) Rajya Sabha lawmaker John Brittas said the President had forwarded his letter on similar issues to the legislative department for appropriate action.
The President informed Brittas that his letter, sent last month seeking action against Kumar, had been forwarded to the legislative department with a direction to take appropriate action.
Trinamool Congress (TMC)’s Rajya Sabha floor leader Derek O’Brien, one of the signatories of the Opposition’s letter, told HT, “We have sought a meeting with President Murmu to raise our issues related to SIR and to demand Gyanesh Kumar’s removal.”
The letter also said that the top leaders of the parties in the INDIA bloc and the two Leaders of the Opposition would meet Murmu.
In the afternoon, during the protests, Brittas announced that the President had replied to him. “On the 23rd of last month, I wrote a formal letter to the Honorable President seeking action against CEC Gyanesh Kumar for indulging in unconstitutional illegal acts. Surprisingly, I got a reply from Rashtrapati Ji today saying that she has forwarded my letter to the concerned department, the Legislative Department, with a direction to take appropriate action,” Brittas said.
“According to me, the appropriation actually is the removal of Gyanesh Kumar. Now I am awaiting this appropriate action from the part of the concerned department and Rashtrapati. I thank the Rashtrapati for taking this step, which is reassuring for us, and which is something the people of this country are looking at,” Brittas added.
The Opposition parties have urged Murmu to give an appointment on Thursday or Friday, which is seen as an attempt to keep the momentum of the Opposition’s protests going.
The letter to Murmu follows a massive march of more than 300 Opposition MPs on Tuesday to demand Kumar’s removal. The march was stopped by the Delhi Police near Akashvani Bhavan-less than 300 metres from the Nirvahan Sadan, the headquarters of the poll body. But the protest continued till late evening as Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi, along with Wayanad MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Congress general secretary KC Venugopal and others decided to stay put at the Akashvani Bhavan campus and later got detained.
On Wednesday, the Opposition-barring the Samajwadi Party-decided to restart their protest and tried to go to Jantar Mantar after having lunch at a popular restaurant in central Delhi. The MPs were detained and barred from going to Jantar Mantar.
“The President has responded to a private letter from an MP. That does not prevent or affect the Opposition’s meeting with the President. Even if the issues raised by Brittas are similar to the ones raised by the Opposition, the two situations are different,” former secretary general of Lok Sabha PDT Achari told HT.