Did Arun Goel resign as EC due to differences with CEC or Modi govt, asks Oppn

A day after Arun Goel resigned as election commissioner the Congress and other opposition parties on Sunday asked whether he did so due to any differences with the chief election commissioner or the Narendra Modi government Taking potshots at the BJP some opposition leaders also wondered if Goel resigned to contest the Lok Sabha polls on its ticket like former Calcutta High Court judge Abhijit GangopadhyayThe resignation of Arun Goel as Election Commissioner last evening raises three questions Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said Did he actually resign over differences with the Chief Election Commissioner or with the Modi Government which does the frontseat driving for all supposedly independent institutions Or did he resign for personal reasons Or did he like the Calcutta High Court Judge a few days back resign to contest the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls on a BJP ticket Ramesh said in a post on XThe Congress leader said the Election Commission has for eight months now refused to meet with INDIA parties on the issue of the Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail VVPAT that is essential to prevent electronic voting manipulation Each passing day in Modis India deals an added blow to democracy and democratic institutions he allegedAsked about Goels resignation Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said one has to wait to see what he does in the coming days I was thinking that after the high court judge resigned and joined the BJP the next day and started abusing the TMC It shows that the BJP has appointed people with such a mindset Now the election commissioner has resigned let us wait for some time to see what he does he saidShiv Sena UBT leader Sanjay Raut alleged the Election Commission has become an extended branch of the BJP It is not the same Election Commission that it was during TN Seshans time which functioned as a watchdog over the elections and remained impartial he claimed In the last 10 years the Election Commission has been privatised It has become a branch of the BJP he allegedHe said two people have gone and only one remains in the Election Commission Like BJPs people have been appointed in high courts Supreme Court Governors house in the same manner they would appoint two of their BJP people here too Raut claimedRamesh said It is possible that Arun Goel resigned to contest elections on a BJP ticket AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi demanded answers from Goel and the government over the resignation just ahead of the Lok Sabha elections It would be better if he Arun Goel himself or the government would tell the reason behind the resignation ahead of the Lok Sabha elections he saidTMC leader Saket Gokhale asked Why did Election Commissioner Arun Goel abruptly resign last night just after cutting short his trip to Bengal with the ECIWhat explains this sudden mystery days before the elections This is a part of the chronology of Modis amp BJPs dirty tricks to steal votes in Bengal he alleged The antiBengal outsider zamindars of the BJP are rattled because Bengal has constantly rejected them he claimed He said In the face of a certain defeat theyve tried everything including depriving Bengal of its rightful financial dues sending 100s of companies of central forces to Bengal before the elections and influencing a sitting HC judge who resignedGokhale alleged that the BJP forced Goel to abruptly resign so that Modi and his one chosen minister get to appoint two out of three Election Commissioners days before Lok Sabha polls are announced Independent MP Kapil Sibal said it was a worrying development Way cleared to Pack the Commission with Yes men This applies to all institutions that are the foundations of our Republic he said on XTo abruptly resign like this at the cusp of the Lok Sabha elections is something we should be worried about because normally this would not happen Maybe the reasons cited by him that he has resigned for personal reasons are genuine But it is unlikely Sibal said There is also a possibility that there was some element of disagreement between him and the chief election commissioner in the context of elections in West Bengal I do not know the real reason but that is speculationHe alleged institutions in this country including the Election Commission which is constitutionally obliged to ensure a free and fair elections are being slowly decimated And it has been decimated over the years and in the last ten years they have captured almost all institutions in this country the former union minister said adding that the Election Commission is also one such victimIn the last 10 years it looks like the Election Commission has become an extended arm of the government he also said TMC MP Sagarika Ghose said Now on the eve of elections an election commissioner Arun Goel has actually resigned What message does this send about the worlds largest democracyGoel resigned on Saturday days before the expected announcement of the schedule for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections His tenure was till December 5 2027 and he would have become Chief Election Commissioner CEC after the retirement of incumbent Rajiv Kumar in February next yearAccording to a Law Ministry notification Goels resignation has been accepted by President Droupadi Murmu with effect from Saturday It was not immediately known why he stepped down Goel was a 1985batch IAS officer of the Punjab cadre He joined the Election Commission in November 2022Following the retirement of Anup Chandra Pandey in February and Goels resignation the threemember EC now has only one member CEC Rajiv KumarThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever