Jiji Thomson’s disclosure: Rahul Gandhi alleges Modi, Shah ‘match-fixing’ polls; CJP asks if Gyanesh Kumar can ensure fair elections

Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Saturday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah of putting Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar in charge of 'match-fixing' India’s elections.

Gandhi’s remarks came shortly after former Kerala Chief Secretary Jiji Thomson told Onmanorama that Kumar had offered him a BJP ticket to contest the 2019 Lok Sabha elections from Pathanamthitta. Thomson said Kumar made the offer during a flight to Delhi in 2016, when he was a serving IAS officer.

“First, Gyanesh Kumar — then a serving IAS officer — was used to recruit for the BJP. Then Modi and Shah made him the umpire and put him in charge of match-fixing India’s elections,” Gandhi said in a post on X.

Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke, who has previously demanded Kumar’s resignation and threatened to launch an agitation over alleged manipulation of the electoral process, also reacted to the development.

Dipke, in a video statement, questioned whether Kumar, as the constitutional authority responsible for conducting free and fair elections, could ensure the same standard in the electoral process.

According to Thomson, Kumar spoke highly of Prime Minister Narendra Modi during their flight and asked whether he would be interested in contesting as a BJP candidate from Pathanamthitta in the 2019 general elections.

“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 said.

Thomson, who retired as Kerala Chief Secretary in 2016, also recalled an earlier instance when Kumar tried to persuade him to enter politics after learning that some people had approached him to contest an election. Thomson said he declined that offer as well.

The remarks come amid criticism of Kumar’s functioning as CEC, particularly over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. The controversy has also intensified following reports that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had raised objections to decisions and orders taken by Kumar.