Ex-chief secretary’s revelations about Gyanesh Kumar “extremely serious”, CEC must step down: Keralam CM

Kerala chief minister VD Satheesan on Sunday termed the revelations made by former state chief secretary Jiji Thomson about Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar “extremely serious” and demanded that Kumar step down from his post

Kerala chief minister VD Satheesan on Sunday termed the revelations made by former state chief secretary Jiji Thomson about Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar “extremely serious” and demanded that Kumar step down from his post.

India News

“No further evidence is required to prove that Gyanesh Kumar acted as an agent of the BJP. It is now evident that he served as an operative who subverted democracy on behalf of the BJP,” Satheesan said in a post on social platform ‘X’.

Thomson had revealed on Saturday that Kumar urged him to contest the 2019 Lok Sabha elections and offered to help him get a BJP ticket from a constituency in Keralam. The offer was reportedly made during a flight they took together to Delhi. Thomson was then the state’s chief secretary and Kumar was on deputation in the Union government.

“We were friends at the time. He (Kumar) asked me about my post retirement plans. I said I had no specific plans but wanted to work in an area to shape the future of the young generation. That’s when he said that the best idea was to contest as a BJP candidate in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. I could become an MP and a minister in the Union government. He said that was the best way forward,” Thomson told a Malayalam news channel.

Kumar is a 1988-batch Keralam cadre officer who served in various posts in the state before going on central deputation to Delhi. Thomson, a 1980-batch officer, served as chief secretary in 2016-17 before retiring.

Satheesan alleged that Kumar does not have the right to remain in office for even a day considering his role in “undermining democracy” in one of the country’s highest constitutional offices.

He is an “official with a criminal mindset who tethered the Election Commission, an institution meant to function with complete independence, to the stables of the Sangh Parivar. His continuation in the post poses an extreme danger to Indian democracy,” Satheesan said.

Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Sunday reiterated her demand for Kumar’s immediate resignation, alleging that he has political leanings and questioning how he could conduct fair elections.

Asked about Thomson’s allegation, Vadra termed it “completely illegal and unethical”. She said it showed that those at the highest levels of the election system and institutions responsible for conducting polls “have party leanings”.

“Not only do they have party leanings, but they are actively propagating those parties. How can they conduct fair elections? This is just one in a series of things that this gentleman (the chief election commissioner) has done, which are completely illegal and unconstitutional. He needs to resign, and he needs to resign now,” she said.

Asked whether Congress planned to protest against Kumar, Vadra said protests had already been held across the country. “In every district we have had protests against him. In Delhi also there were protests,” she said.

BJP leader Jiji Joseph on Sunday responded to Thomson’s claim. He said that in 2017, when he was state president of the BJP’s Minority Morcha, a senior Sangh Parivar leader had asked him to invite Thomson to a Minority Morcha event in Kochi held on June 26, 2017, to honour Mar Chrysostom.

Joseph shared photographs showing Thomson on the dais and speaking into a microphone. Former minister and UDF leader K M Mani was also present, according to the photographs.

“I was the state president of the Minority Morcha at the time. A senior leader, highly respected by Sangh Parivar workers in Keralam, called me and asked me to invite Jiji Thomson to the programme. He told me that Thomson was interested in coming with us,” Joseph said.

He claimed Thomson attended the event and “lavishly praised” Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Union government’s initiatives. Joseph also claimed Thomson was appointed an independent director of Cochin Shipyard after the event, a position he held from 2017 to 2020.

“I suspect that he had wanted an even bigger position,” Joseph said. Thomson is yet to respond to Joseph’s claims.

Joseph ended his post by saying, “Kittatha munthiri pulikkum” (grapes that one cannot get taste sour), and wished Thomson well.

with inputs from PTI