New Delhi: Stepping up its attack on the Election Commission, the opposition has submitted notices of motions seeking the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar to the presiding officers of both houses of Parliament. This is the first time a notice has been issued calling for the revocation of a CEC. The notifications have been signed by 130 members of the Lok Sabha and 63 members of the Federal House of Representatives.
According to regulations, at least 100 members of the House of Commons must sign a notice seeking to dissolve the Central Election Commission, while 50 members of the House of Federation are required.An opposition leader said that although the necessary numbers had been reached, opposition MPs continued to come to sign the notice until Thursday afternoon. As of around 1:30 p.m., 130 signatures had been received from opposition members of the House of Commons and 63 signatures from opposition members of the House of Federation. According to sources, the notification has been signed by all parties in the India group. Apart from this, AAP MPs who are not part of the India group also signed the notification.The 10-page notice contained a seven-count charge sheet. According to sources, the accusations range from partisan conduct by the CEC to mass disenfranchisement of voters. The opposition also raised issues with the way the CEC handled SIR in previous elections like Bihar and upcoming elections in states like West Bengal; his “proven misconduct”; and his favoritism towards political parties were also issues mentioned in the notification.Notice on Cancellation of CEC Pilot TMC The opposition parties are mounting accusations against Gyanesh Kumar. They accused the Central Election Commission of being biased and conducting the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise in an arbitrary manner to help the BJP. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has been leading protests against the SIR process in the state. Other opposition parties have also been attacking the Central Election Commission, with Rahul Gandhi leading the “Vote Chauri” movement.The procedure for removing the CEC is similar to that for removing Supreme Court judges, with sitting judges only being removed “in cases of proven misconduct or incapacity.”The fact that the Bharatiya Janata Party alliance has a majority in both houses of Congress makes the move impossible to launch, but it allows opposition parties to mount a joint protest against the Central Election Commission.
