Amid an ongoing political controversy surrounding Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, a call for him to be awarded a Padma Bhushan emerged, further fueling the row.
Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah on Tuesday took a swipe at the BJP for the suggestion, saying he should be rewarded with a Bharat Ratna for delivering West Bengal to the party. Amid the uproar and calls for Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation, West Bengal BJP chief Samik Bhattacharya came out in support of the CEC, and called for a ‘Padma Bhushan’ for him. “I bow to his ‘wisdom,’ at the very least. I know Samik ji; he is a BJP member of the Rajya Sabha and also a state president. Given that level of ‘wisdom’ and in this climate where accounts of theft and dacoity have surfaced, backed by evidence, he should be the first to receive the Bharat Ratna for such a mindset.
Several parties have backed a call for a protest against the CEC on October 2, calling for his resignation.
West Bengal BJP chief Samik Bhattacharya said CEC Gyanesh Kumar deserved a Padma Bhushan “at the very least”, and credited him with ensuring a violence-free assembly election in the state and “cleansing” the voter list by removing illegal Bangladeshis. “In a border state like West Bengal, Gyanesh Kumar took the initiative to remove the names of Bangladeshi infiltrators from the voter list,” Bhattacharya said. Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) MP Manoj Jha on Saturday took a dig at BJP MP and West Bengal BJP president Samik Bhattacharya over his remark, saying he “bows to his wisdom” amid the ongoing political controversy over the Election Commission. Speaking to ANI, Jha said that given the BJP leader’s “level of wisdom”, he should instead be the first to receive the Bharat Ratna. Only then should anyone else be considered,” Jha said.
