Congress MP Rakibul Hussain targets Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma over his defence of CEC Gyanesh Kumar amid the ongoing ECI and SIR controversy
Guwahati: Congress MP Rakibul Hussain stepped up his attack on Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma over his defence of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar amid the ongoing controversy surrounding the Election Commission of India.
Hussain alleged that Himanta Biswa Sarma’s defence of the CEC had raised questions about the Assam chief minister’s position as reports emerged of objections recorded by Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi over several decisions of the poll panel.
“Once Gyanesh Kumar’s actions came under scrutiny, look at how Himanta Biswa Sarma is behaving because he, too, will be exposed,” Hussain said.
The Congress MP also linked the controversy to Rahul Gandhi’s earlier criticism of Kumar. Hussain claimed that the BJP had previously dismissed Gandhi’s remarks, but said the reported objections by the two Election Commissioners had brought similar concerns back into focus.
The controversy follows an Indian Express report that Sandhu and Joshi had formally recorded objections at least 14 times over 10 months on issues including voter-roll changes, Form 6 and access to electoral-roll databases.
The Assam Chief Minister, however, has defended Kumar, saying the Election Commission functions as a collective body and that final decisions require consensus or a majority.
Hussain further targeted the CM with the remark, “A thief’s friend is a thief,” while criticising the chief minister’s position on the controversy. The allegation is Hussain’s political statement and has not been established as fact.
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