Kalaburagi: Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday criticised the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), accusing the central government of systematically undermining democratic institutions, manipulating the electoral machinery and shielding election officials from accountability, ANI reported.

Kharge attacked Section 16 of the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners Act, 2023, which grants legal immunity to current and former Election Commissioners for official duties. Pointing out that even the President of India and the Chief Justice do not enjoy absolute immunity, he alleged — as his claim — that the law was passed to let the government act through CEC Gyanesh Kumar without legal repercussions. "We are asking the BJP to repeal that law. Because you are giving protection to the Election Commissioner and letting him make mistakes," Kharge said.

Escalating the opposition's scepticism toward voting technology, Kharge demanded the removal of Gyanesh Kumar, the scrapping of EVMs and a return to traditional ballot papers, along with strict checks against manipulation of voter lists through Booth Level Officers (BLOs). "Bring the previous law back, get rid of the EVMs, bring back ballot papers," he said.

On the Women's Reservation Bill, Kharge accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of using the delimitation exercise as a pretext to delay the law. He argued that 33% reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies can and should be implemented immediately using the existing strength of the Houses. "You can implement the one-third women's reservation right now. Whatever the existing strength of the House is, you just use that to make it one-third. Who's stopping you?" he said.

Kharge said the Congress was fighting to protect democracy and the Constitution rather than to ensure victory for any particular party, and dismissed a reply from Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju, alleging that the Prime Minister and the Home Minister use ministers and constitutional officers as fronts instead of answering opposition concerns themselves. The BJP government had not responded to these specific remarks in the reports carried by ANI at the time of publication.

Sources: ANI via Latestly; ANI via Desi Talk Chicago.