Thiruvananthapuram | Senior CPI(M) leader T M Thomas Isaac on Friday alleged that Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar was "under a shadow" during his stint as a civil servant in Keralam.
Speaking to reporters here, Isaac alleged that Kumar, a Keralam-cadre IAS officer, was the PWD secretary when the V S Achuthanandan-led Left government came to power in 2006 and was removed from the post by November that year, following which a vigilance inquiry was ordered against him.
Isaac alleged that the action followed the suicide of the director of a Malaysian construction company involved in a World Bank-funded road project in Keralam.
He alleged that the suicide note named Kumar and contained allegations of harassment, demand for bribes and keeping bills pending.
"He had recounted the harassment that he had to face. He even said bribes were asked, and bills were kept pending, and so on. And a kind of frustration; he was a very sensitive man, he died by suicide," Isaac alleged.
Isaac, who was the finance minister in the Achuthanandan government from 2006 to 2011, said Kumar later moved to the Defence Ministry.
There was no immediate reaction from the Election Commission to the allegations raised by Isaac.
Isaac said that when the second UDF government came to power in 2011, Kumar became the Resident Commissioner of Kerala House and continued in the post until the Pinarayi Vijayan government came to power in 2016.
He alleged that Kumar later became involved in matters concerning Jammu and Kashmir and also played a significant role in designing the trust associated with the Ram Janmabhoomi temple.
Isaac alleged that Kumar subsequently gained the confidence of the BJP leadership and became an Election Commissioner with an "explicit mandate" to manipulate elections.
"I have no doubt regarding that. Because the systematic undermining of the electoral system, systematically step-by-step the measures are taken to do that, that cannot happen accidentally," he alleged.
Isaac criticised the process of appointing Election Commissioners, alleging that the Chief Justice of India was excluded from the selection committee while a union minister was included, giving the prime minister a majority in the panel.
He questioned the present system of electoral roll revision, saying he had earlier believed that Electoral Registration Officers and Booth Level Officers were responsible for examining evidence and finalising voter lists.
Isaac alleged that technical personnel were now deciding who should vote and who should not, describing the system as "completely adverse" and "properly undemocratic".
He said the CPI(M) and other Left parties would launch a special campaign from September 26, Bhagat Singh's birth anniversary, to October 2, Mahatma Gandhi's birth anniversary.
