What are you hiding? TMC leader on refusal to reveal Gyanesh Kumar's travel details
TMC leader Saket Gokhale has accused the Election Commission of withholding details of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar's official travel under the RTI Act. The dispute has sharpened questions over transparency, accountability and the use of public funds by a constitutional body.
Former Rajya Sabha MP and Trinamool Congress leader Saket Gokhale on Friday alleged that the Election Commission had refused to disclose details of official visits undertaken by Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and the public money spent on them, citing the information as "personal" under the Right to Information Act (RTI).
Gokhale said he filed an RTI application on June 18 seeking details of all official visits undertaken by Kumar since he took charge as CEC on February 19, 2025, along with the expenditure incurred from public funds. The Election Commission had not issued a response to the allegations at the time of publication.
The information sought included the total number of domestic and foreign visits, visit-wise dates, destinations, purpose and mode of travel, officials who accompanied the CEC at government expense, and a break-up of expenditure on travel, accommodation, daily allowance, local transport and other expenses.
According to a copy of the RTI reply shared by Gokhale on X, the Election Commission, in its July 31 response, said: "The information sought under these items relates to personal information and therefore cannot be shared under Section 8(1)(j) of the RTI Act, 2005."
Questioning the decision, Gokhale asked how expenditure incurred on official visits from public funds could be classified as "personal information".
"How can expenditure incurred on official visits from public funds be called 'personal information'? Even the cost of PM's foreign travel has been disclosed in Parliament. So what makes Gyanesh Kumar so special?" he said.
Gokhale also questioned what the poll panel was seeking to conceal by withholding the expenditure details.
"What sort of public money has been spent on Gyanesh Kumar's visits that ECI is scared to disclose it?" he asked.
He further accused the Election Commission of lacking accountability and transparency since Kumar took charge as CEC, alleging that the poll panel had become "a black hole".
Gokhale said the RTI application had specifically sought information on completed official visits funded wholly or partly from public money. He pointed out that it did not seek any prospective itinerary, real-time movement details, or security, escort or protocol arrangements.
He said the Election Commission's response raised questions about the expenditure incurred on the CEC's official travel and called for greater transparency.
"What exactly is ECI trying to hide about Gyanesh Kumar's trips? We need answers," he said.