BJD Joins Opposition Parties in Demanding Chief Election Commissioner’s Resignation

Naveen Patnaik’s Biju Janata Dal (BJD) has joined opposition parties in demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, citing alleged irregularities in the voter roll revision and recent statements regarding statutory forms.

The BJD dispatched party leaders Manas Mangraj and Sulata Deo to central Delhi to participate in ongoing protests led by INDIA bloc leaders, including Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Trinamool Congress leader Derek O’Brien, and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav. During the demonstration, police briefly detained opposition MPs before releasing them. Rahul Gandhi displayed a poster bearing the slogan “Gyanesh, it’s done bro!” and shared the message on social media alongside a call for the CEC’s resignation.

The protests intensified following an investigation published last month, which revealed that Election Commissioners Vivek Joshi and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu had formally recorded objections 14 times over 10 months regarding decisions related to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter rolls. The objections included concerns over the centralisation of ECINET software control and the modification of Form 6 to incorporate questions regarding voters’ parents or grandparents.

BJD spokesperson Lenin Mohanty stated in Bhubaneswar that CEC Kumar bore moral responsibility and must step down, accusing him of misrepresenting that the alterations to Form 6 had received Supreme Court approval. The Supreme Court recently clarified that it had not approved any modifications to the form and sought responses from the Election Commission and the central government.

Baring further allegations, BJD leader Lekhashree Samantsinghar asserted that voters nationwide and in Odisha had lost faith in the poll body, further alleging potential tampering with electronic voting machines during the 2024 Odisha assembly elections to favour a specific party.

The political alignment follows the BJD’s defeat by the BJP in the 2024 Odisha assembly polls. The BJD previously maintained an alliance with the BJP-led national coalition from 1998 to 2009. Security measures were heightened across the New Delhi district as authorities managed the demonstrations and cleared protesting lawmakers from the area.