A day after Election Commissioner Arun Goel resigned, Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut on Sunday claimed the Election Commission of India is no longer an autonomous watchdog, but works as an extended branch of the ruling BJP.

The opposition NCP faction led by Sharad Pawar said Goel's sudden resignation ahead of the Lok Sabha polls appeared suspicious.

Election Commissioner Arun Goel resigned on Saturday, days before the expected announcement of the schedule for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

His tenure was till December 5, 2027, and he would have become Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) after incumbent Rajiv Kumar's retirement in February next year.

"Whether the ECI exists or not, it has no meaning especially after how it has given orders under BJP's pressure in the cases of Shiv Sena and NCP splits, completely in violation of the 10th schedule," Raut claimed while talking to reporters.

"The ECI is not the autonomous watchdog it used to be in the time of TN Seshan, but works as an extended branch of the BJP," the Rajya Sabha member from the Uddhav Thackeray-led Sena (UBT) further claimed.

He was responding to a question on Goel's resignation as the election commissioner.

Goel's resignation came within a month of Anup Pandey's retirement as the election commissioner, leaving CEC Rajiv Kumar alone in the three-member election panel.

Raut claimed BJP workers will be appointed in the ECI.

NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) national spokesperson Clyde Crasto said the sudden resignation of Election Commissioner Arun Goel, ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, appears suspicious.

"Did he resign because he had a doubt that elections would not be conducted in a free and fair manner? Did he voice it, therefore asked to leave? Government must answer," he said in a statement.

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