The Punjab Vidhan Sabha on Friday passed a resolution seeking an independent and impartial investigation into alleged irregularities in voter lists, electoral processes and functioning of the Election Commission (EC) under Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. During the debate on the resolution, several speakers also demanded Kumar’s resignation.

This is the first time that a legislative Assembly has passed such a resolution against CEC Kumar.

When the House passed the resolution by voice vote, the legislators of the Congress, Shiromani Akali Dal and the BJP were not present in the House. However, two rebel Akali MLAs, a BSP legislator and an Independent MLA were present.

Tabling the resolution on the second day of the ongoing session, Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema accused the BJP of snatching voting rights from the poor. He alleged that BJP workers had approached Booth Level Officers with forged documents and false claims to get names deleted from voter lists.…