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NEW DELHI: The united opposition on Friday moved Parliament to remove Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar from office, a crucial step as the anti-BJP camp’s protests against the National Election Commission and elections have taken to extreme extremes and will further widen their already wide rift with the National Development Alliance.The removal notice comes ahead of the Election Commission announcing the schedule for assembly elections in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, West Bengal, Assam and Puducherry, where key members of the Indian bloc are contesting bjpalso against each other.
Opposition members submitted recall notices to both houses of parliament, with 130 members of the House of Commons and 63 members of the House of Federation signing the petition. The notifications include not just the India Bloc parties but also some independent MPs and the AAP, which have been fighting the EC and raising serious allegations over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of Delhi’s electoral rolls. AAP quit the group after the 2024 LS polls.Sources in the India Group said the petition filed seven charges against Kumar, mainly alleging “partisan and discriminatory conduct while in office”, “deliberate obstruction of investigations into electoral fraud”, “massive disenfranchisement of voters” and “misconduct”. They said the opposition has also raised issues regarding the SIR for the 2025 Bihar polls and upcoming elections in states like West Bengal and the CEC’s favoritism towards political parties.The opposition has been accusing the Election Commission of trying to help the BJP through the SIR. CEC’s removal notice is TMC West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee first raised the demand during the budget session in February. The move comes after Mamata led days of militant protests in Kolkata.The procedure for removing the CEC is similar to that for Supreme Court judges – a sitting judge can only be removed “on proven misconduct or incapacity”. As per the Judges (Inquiry) Act, 1968, once the motion to remove a judge is approved by the LS or RS, the Speaker or the Chairman will constitute a three-member panel to inquire into the grounds. Once the report is submitted, it will be tabled in the House and subsequently discussed. The motion must be passed by a majority of both chambers of Congress and a two-thirds majority of those present and voting. Given the NDA’s majority in LS and RS, this makes the opposition move unlikely to succeed.There is some kind of quid pro quo that ensures early submission of notices in LS and RS. The TMC did not sign the ouster notice against Speaker Om Birla that was supported by other opposition parties but supported the notice when it was raised on LS this week after there was a consensus within the India Group to co-sponsor the notice against the CEC.
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