THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A resolution by Chief Minister V D Satheesan urging the Union government and the Election Commission to remove Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar will be the highlight of the opening day of the second session of the 16th Kerala Assembly on Monday.
The resolution seeks the reinstatement of all eligible voters deleted from the rolls during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) and the restoration of the Chief Justice of India to the panel that selects election commissioners. An assembly bulletin issued on Sunday listed the resolution under Rule 118.
The main Opposition, the LDF, will back the resolution.
The resolution alleges that lakhs of eligible citizens were deleted from the electoral rolls during the SIR without clear criteria or prior notice. It says marginalised sections, minorities, migrant workers and young voters lost their voting rights due to technical manipulation and flaws, in violation of democratic principles.
Citing media reports, it alleges that the software used for the revision bypassed the powers of Electoral Registration Officers. It also terms reports of Form 6 being altered in violation of the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, despite dissent from a majority of the Election Commission’s members, as “serious”.
A stormy session is in prospect, with the Opposition and treasury benches set to clash over several issues. The Opposition is likely to raise ministers’ foreign trips, the power crisis, medicine shortages in government hospitals, the PM SHRI row and the rift between the UDF convener and the Chief Minister.
The ruling front, meanwhile, is likely to corner the Opposition over the CMRL-Exalogic case involving the leader of Opposition, the alleged fraud surrounding the failed visit of footballer Lionel Messi and PSC irregularities during the previous LDF government.
