CEC Gyanesh Kumar’s Chhattisgarh Trip Deferred Over 'Unavoidable Reasons' Amid Nationwide Protests
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Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar’s two-day Chhattisgarh visit, scheduled for October 7 and 8, has been postponed due to “unavoidable reasons”, the state Chief Electoral Officer’s office said, as per India Today.
The postponement comes amid a political row over the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, Opposition demands for Kumar’s resignation and scrutiny of the functioning of the poll panel.
Kumar was scheduled to visit the Danteshwari Mata temple in Dantewada, Chitrakoot waterfall in Bastar and the Bhoramdev temple in Kawardha district. The Chhattisgarh government had accorded him state guest status and preparations for the visit were underway.
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According to India Today, the Election Commission has also postponed the visit of other senior officials. Fresh dates will be communicated separately after they are received from the Election Commission.
Series Of CEC Programmes Deferred
The Chhattisgarh visit is the latest in a series of programmes involving CEC Gyanesh Kumar to be postponed in recent weeks.
His September 25 Electoral Literacy Club conference in Meerut and September 28 programme in Varanasi were also deferred. The ECI said the decision was unrelated to reports of differences among the three Election Commissioners, citing factors such as weather, local conditions, resource availability and changes in Kumar’s official schedule.
Earlier Postponements
The ECI has also cited earlier postponements in Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Ladakh. It attributed the Himachal programme to the tourist season and examinations, while the Uttarakhand event was linked to the completion of the SIR exercise and the Ladakh programme to the Mansarovar disaster.
The poll panel has maintained that rescheduling electoral-literacy programmes is routine and can be driven by venue availability, senior officials’ schedules and other local circumstances.
Chhattisgarh Postponement Draws Attention
The latest postponement comes at a politically sensitive time for the Election Commission, with the SIR exercise facing strong opposition from political parties and protests over the poll panel’s functioning.
However, the Election Commission has not linked Kumar’s Chhattisgarh visit being deferred to the ongoing political protests, the SIR controversy or reports of differences within the poll panel.
For now, the official reason given for postponing the October 7-8 visit remains “unavoidable reasons”. Fresh dates are expected to be announced separately.
