Union Minister Ramdas Athawale on Sunday ruled out the resignation of CEC Gyanesh Kumar and warned protesters at Jantar Mantar of jail. He said, "Whatever agitation you do, CEC Gyanesh Kumar will not resign." Athawale also promised that the government would restore statehood to Jammu and Kashmir very soon.
SRINAGAR: Amid opposition protests over alleged voter deletions by the Election Commission, Union Minister of State for Social Justice Ramdas Athawale on Sunday ruled out the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and warned that those protesting at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi would go to jail. He also said J&K's statehood would be restored soon.
"Whatever agitation you do, CEC Gyanesh Kumar will not resign," Athawale told reporters in Srinagar while defending the Election Commission against allegations that voters had been removed from electoral rolls to benefit the ruling party.
Athawale said around 13 crore voter names had been deleted across the country for various reasons. "Approximately six crore entries related to people who had changed residences and appeared on voter lists at different locations, while three crore voters were missing and 2.8 crore listed voters had died."
The Union minister argued that the voter deletions were not limited to opposition supporters. "It is not that only opposition votes were cut; even our voters were deleted. It is not that all the voters deleted would have voted for the opposition; they could have voted for us also."
Targeting Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and other opposition leaders, Athawale said Rahul Gandhi's stand was against the Constitution. "Rahul and opposition parties are attempting to corner the government. They are trying to create trouble for people. They are trying to create a traffic jam in Delhi."
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While acknowledging that peaceful protest was a democratic right, the minister said demonstrations should not lead to disorder.
Referring to protests at Jantar Mantar, he warned that the government had imposed restrictions on gatherings and that those going to Jantar Mantar would have to go to jail.
He also questioned the participation of CJP in anti-CEC protests, saying it was a students' organisation and should focus on students' concerns rather than demanding the CEC's removal.
On the restoration of statehood to J&K, he said that when Article 370 was removed, Home Minister Amit Shah had assured that statehood would be restored at an appropriate time.
"This assurance has been given by the Government of India. And there will be a decision on it very soon," Athawale said without specifying a timeline.
"Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Amit Shah know when it will happen. And they have promised to restore statehood to J&K," he said.
The J&K Assembly recently passed a resolution demanding the full restoration of statehood to J&K. Athawale said the security situation had improved since the abrogation of Article 370 and accused Pakistan of attempting to disrupt peace through terrorist attacks.
The Modi government, he said, had avenged last year's Pahalgam terror attack. Maintaining that Jammu and Kashmir was an integral part of India, he said Pakistan had no claim over the region and that people in PoK were facing excesses under Pakistani rule.