Kerala CM joins calls for Election Commission chief's resignation

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has joined several political leaders in calling for the resignation of the Election Commission of India's chief, intensifying scrutiny of the poll body's functioning. The demand reflects growing friction between opposition parties and the electoral authority over its handling of recent elections across the country.

The calls for the chief's resignation emerge against a backdrop of electoral setbacks faced by the Indian National Congress and its coalition partners in the INDIA bloc. Senior Congress leaders have previously raised concerns about the Election Commission's conduct, accusing it of bias in favour of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.

The BJP, however, has dismissed the criticism as sour grapes. V. Muraleedharan, a former Union Minister and BJP MLA, attributed the opposition parties' attacks on the Election Commission to frustration over repeated electoral defeats in coalition contests. He contended that the INDIA bloc's continuous failures at the ballot box had prompted the Congress to question the poll body's impartiality.

The controversy underscores the deepening polarization between India's political establishment and its constitutional bodies, with opposing camps offering starkly different interpretations of the Election Commission's neutrality and performance in managing the country's electoral processes.