Opposition files fresh notice seeking removal of CEC Gyanesh Kumar

New Delhi: Opposition members of the Union House on Friday submitted a fresh notice to the RS general secretary seeking a motion to remove the Chief Election Commissioner citing “proven misconduct”.Earlier this month, notices submitted by opposition MPs from LS and RS were rejected by the Speaker and Chairman respectively. The opposition has leveled nine new charges against Kumar in a new notification.Congress spokesperson Jairam Ramesh said on theRamesh said the motion was filed “on the basis of proven misconduct” – one example being the EC’s “outspoken” social media post after meeting the TMC delegation on April 8. The meeting ended on a sour note, with TMC leaders saying the CEC asked them to “go away” while the EC accused them of shouting.Ramesh said: “Nine specific allegations have now been made against the Central Electoral Commission that can never be denied or whitewashed. His continuation is an attack on the Constitution. It is an absolute disgrace that this man continues to hold office and take orders from the Prime Minister and Her Majesty the Queen.”The motion has been signed by MPs from Congress, TMC, DMK, SP, RJD, CPI, CPM, NCP(SP), Shiv Sena (UBT), JMM, IUML, NC and AAP.As part of the new charge, the opposition accused Kumar of “persistent partisan asymmetry in the enforcement of the model code of conduct”, the Election Commission allegedly failed to act on complaints against Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s address to the nation on April 18 over constitutional amendments related to women’s reservation, which he was defeated in the assembly polls. The CEC said it had “not issued any show-cause notice, advisory or public response” to any complaints regarding the matter.Other accusations included “administrative lapses indicating close ties with the ruling party’s institutions” and “conduct inconsistent with the provisions of the Constitution”, which included the immediate termination of meetings with the TMC.The list of charges also includes large-scale disenfranchisement in West Bengal involving the deletion of about 9.1 million voters and the judiciary’s exclusion of about 3.4 million voters from the franchise.Other accusations include “deliberate inaction on specific and documented complaints of official partisanship” and “replicating a flawed SIR framework across the country.”