Former Kerala Chief Secretary Jiji Thomson has accused Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar of suggesting that he consider running as a BJP candidate in the 2019 Lok Sabha election. This conversation allegedly took place while Kumar was serving as an IAS officer, specifically regarding the Pathanamthitta constituency in Kerala.
The Indian Express had reported that the two Commissioners had separately written to the Cabinet Secretary after a work allocation order within the Commission. The BJP and its allies claimed the Election Commission’s clarification had addressed the concerns and exposed allegations by the Congress based. BJP president Nitin Nabin claimed the opposition had again been exposed for misleading the public about SIR. “The Election Commission has made it clear that every decision relating to the SIR was taken unanimously by the full Commission. Yet, Congress chose to build its allegations around a manufactured lie and attack our constitutional bodies,” he posted on social media.
The newspaper had also reported that Sandhu and Joshi had objected at least 14 times over a 10-month period to decisions and orders concerning SIR that they said had been issued without their knowledge or recommendation.
The Commission said letters sent by Sandhu and Joshi to Cabinet Secretary TV Somanathan concerned an officer on deputation and did not relate to policy or IT division matters. Earlier reporting noted: CJP’s call for protest was supported by Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray as he said, “If Gyanesh doesn’t go, Mumbai will step out against Vote Chori from 2nd October, in huge numbers!”
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi responded by accusing Kumar of having been involved in recruiting for the BJP before subsequently being appointed as the official overseeing elections. Oommen Chandy was the Chief Minister of Kerala at the time and had appointed him. READ | Congress, BJP And Allies’ Backing: Politics Follows Poll Body’s Clarification
Congress’ Anto Antony won the Pathanamthitta Lok Sabha seat in 2019 while Veena George of the CPI(M) came second. BJP’s Pathanamthitta pick was K Surendran who finished third with a 28.95 per cent vote share. Kumar became the 26th Chief Election Commissioner in February 2025. A Kerala-cadre officer of the 1988 IAS batch, he completed a BTech in Civil Engineering at IIT Kanpur. In 2016, Kumar was Resident Commissioner of the Kerala government in Delhi.
