Union Minister Piyush Goyal on Sunday accused the Congress of having a history of rewarding election commissioners with political posts and honours, as protests in Delhi continued against Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar by Rahul Gandhi and other INDIA bloc leaders.
Speaking to reporters in Delhi, Goyal said he was seeing what he described as Rahul Gandhi’s “double standards” and “immature conduct” that, in his view, undermines institutions. He claimed the NDA government has ensured the Election Commission functions with full independence.
Goyal alleged that, unlike the present dispensation, Congress governments had crossed lines by giving political positions to election commissioners. He cited instances where, according to him, a former CEC was made a candidate by the Congress, another was inducted into the Union Cabinet, and two former CECs were appointed as governors.
He further claimed that a former CEC had once complained that an election commissioner acted like a Congress agent, but the Congress government refused to remove the official. Goyal also referred to T.N. Seshan being fielded against L.K. Advani in 1999, and alleged that M.S. Gill receiving the Padma Vibhushan in 2000—during his tenure as CEC—amounted to a “bribe.”
