Cong questions Gyanesh Kumar’s credibility after Kerala ex-chief secy’s BJP ticket claim

• Congress has cited former Kerala chief secretary Jiji Thomson’s allegation that CEC Gyanesh Kumar suggested he contest the 2019 Lok Sabha election on a BJP ticket

• Thomson says the conversation took place in 2016, when both were in government service, and that he declined the suggestion

• Congress has questioned Kumar’s impartiality as the head of the Election Commission; Kumar has not publicly responded to the allegation so far

The Congress has questioned Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar’s impartiality after former Kerala chief secretary Jiji Thomson alleged that Kumar suggested he contest the 2019 Lok Sabha election from Pathanamthitta on a BJP ticket while the two were serving government officials.

Thomson, who retired as Kerala chief secretary in 2016, said the conversation took place while he and Kumar were travelling together on a flight to Delhi. According to Thomson, Kumar asked him about his plans after retirement before suggesting that he contest the Lok Sabha election for the BJP.

“I was serving as the Kerala Chief Secretary then. We were together on a flight. He was waxing eloquent about Prime Minister Modi and openly asked me if I was interested in contesting as a BJP candidate from Pathanamthitta in the 2019 general elections. He was very persuasive, but I promptly declined it,” Thomson was quoted as saying.

In another account, Thomson said Kumar had told him that he could become a Union minister if he won the election. Thomson said he was surprised by the suggestion and declined it as he had no interest in entering electoral politics.

Thomson also recalled an earlier occasion when Kumar allegedly tried to persuade him to enter politics after learning that he had previously been approached about contesting an election.

Congress has seized on the allegation to question Kumar’s role as the head of the constitutional body responsible for conducting elections. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said in a post on X that Kumar, “then a serving IAS officer”, was “used to recruit for the BJP” before later being appointed to head the Election Commission.

The Congress post highlighting the allegation asked: “Why was Gyanesh Kumar making such an offer?” and “On whose authority was he speaking?” It also questioned whether he could conduct impartial elections in his present position.

The post further alleged that Kumar should be arrested, though it did not provide evidence establishing that he had committed a criminal offence.

The allegation comes amid an ongoing political dispute over the Election Commission’s handling of the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls. The controversy has intensified following reports that election commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had raised objections to certain decisions and orders concerning the poll panel’s functioning. The Election Commission has said its decisions on the SIR were taken unanimously.

Kumar has not publicly responded to Thomson’s allegation so far.