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 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. In the latest notice, the opposition leveled nine new charges against Kumar.Congress spokesperson Jairam Ramesh said a motion had been sought “on the basis of proven misconduct” – one example being the EC’s “candid” social media post after meeting the TMC delegation on April 8. The meeting ended in a heated atmosphere with TMC leaders saying the CEC asked them to “go away” while the EC accused them of shouting.Ramesh said: “The nine specific allegations against the CEC have now been documented in detail and simply cannot be denied or whitewashed. His continuation is an attack on the constitution. It is an absolute disgrace that he continues to hold office and take orders from the Prime Minister and the Prime Minister.”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 fresh charge, the opposition accused Kumar of “persistent partisan asymmetry in the enforcement of the model code of conduct”, the Election Commission allegedly failed to take action against Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s April 18 address to the nation regarding constitutional amendments related to women’s reservation that were 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 include “administrative errors demonstrating the agency’s close ties to the ruling party” and “conduct inconsistent with constitutional provisions.” 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.