Rajya Sabha chief rejects motion to impeach poll body chief Gyanesh Kumar

New Delhi: Union Congress Chairman CP Radhakrishnan on Monday rejected the impeachment motion against Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar, who is facing intense pressure from the opposition over his “conduct” on the pan-India Special Intensive Amendment Bill (SIR) and recent assembly polls.This is the first time a notice has been issued calling for the removal of the head of a poll agency, with 130 members of the Lok Sabha and 63 members of the Federal House of Representatives signing the motion.The 10-page notice is accompanied by a seven-count charge sheet. The accusations range from partisan conduct by the Central Election Commission to mass disenfranchisement of voters.The opposition also raised issues with the way the CEC handled SIR in previous elections such as Bihar and upcoming elections in West Bengal; his “proven misconduct”; his favoritism towards political parties are also issues mentioned in the notice.Notice of cancellation of CEC, by TMCPreviously, the opposition parties had made increasing accusations against Gyanesh Kumar.They accused the CEC of being biased and conducting the ongoing Special Intensified Revision (SIR) exercise in an arbitrary manner to help bjp.chief minister of west bengal Mamata Banerjee has been leading protests against the SIR process in her state. Other opposition parties have also been attacking the Central Election Commission, with Rahul Gandhi leading the “Vote Chauri” movement.Reacting to the rejection of the notification, TMC’s Rajya Sabha member said: “BJP has been making a mockery of our great Parliament”.The BJP leader criticized the opposition proposal, saying the party should focus on the electoral contest and not target the Election Commission.The motion was defeated under parliamentary rules, which require a special majority in parliament.