Nagaon, Sept 24: Dhubri MP Rakibul Hussain on Thursday alleged discrepancies in the functioning of the Election Commission of India (ECI) and linked them to the Congress’s concerns over the electoral process in the Nagaon bypoll, demanding the immediate suspension of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. Addressing a press conference at Rajiv Bhawan in Nagaon, Hussain referred to a September 23 investigation by a national daily, which reported that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had formally objected at least 14 times over 10 months to decisions taken by the three-member poll panel headed by Kumar.

“There are three Election Commissioners and the opinion of all three matters. If two opinions are the same and one is different, the majority opinion is supposed to prevail.

But Gyanesh Kumar has been taking decisions that are against the opinion of the majority, that is, the other two commissioners,” Hussain alleged. Linking the issue to the Congress’s earlier allegations of “vote chori”, Hussain said the reported differences within the poll panel had added another dimension to the party’s concerns over electoral rolls.

“We were already raising the issue of vote chori, but now discrepancies are being seen within the Commission itself. There are discrepancies in the electoral process and there is vote chori,” he alleged.

Hussain claimed that large numbers of names had been removed from electoral rolls in some places, citing figures of around 27 lakh and 65 lakh votes. “We demand the immediate suspension of Gyanesh Kumar.

Wherever discrepancies have occurred and votes have been cancelled, those votes should be brought back. New elections should be conducted wherever necessary,” Hussain said.

Hussain also reiterated the Congress’s allegations concerning the conduct of the Nagaon by-election process and the role of then Nagaon district commissioner Devasish Sharma. He alleged that the Congress had raised objections before the bypoll over the manner in which election preparations were being handled.

“Before the Nagaon elections, we informed the public about how the then Nagaon election officer, who was also the district commissioner, was taking steps that we believed were aimed at corrupting the entire election process,” Hussain said. He said there would have been no objection if Sharma had resigned from his administrative position and entered politics beforeh and.