Fresh push to remove CEC Gyanesh Kumar: Opposition moves notices in both Houses

Opposition parties are preparing to move a fresh notice in both Houses of Parliament seeking the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. A similar notice submitted in the Rajya Sabha on April 24 is still pending with Rajya Sabha Chairman C.P. Radhakrishnan.

Opposition parties are also working towards joint action on the issue and may soon convene a meeting under the INDIA bloc banner. A senior Opposition leader said discussions were under way among like-minded parties on the modalities.

Congress general secretary (communications) Jairam Ramesh said the earlier motion in the Rajya Sabha carried nine specific charges. "There will be more specific charges," he said, adding that the Opposition would certainly move a fresh notice.

The Trinamool Congress, which played a key role in drafting two previous petitions seeking Mr. Kumar's removal, said a new petition should be moved at the earliest. "The Opposition has to act unitedly and swiftly," said Derek O'Brien, the party's leader in the Rajya Sabha.

The first notice

The first notice seeking Mr. Kumar's removal was moved on March 12 and was signed by 63 Rajya Sabha MPs and 130 Lok Sabha MPs. It contained seven charges against the CEC, including that his appointment itself was "tainted", because the law governing his selection — the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners Act, 2023 — faces a challenge in the Supreme Court. The Opposition also said his previous postings reflected "deep executive embeddedness". This notice was dismissed by the presiding officers of both Houses on April 7.

April notice still pending

On April 24, the Opposition again moved a notice in the Rajya Sabha, this time signed by 73 members and containing nine charges. The Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge, and Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi did not sign this notice.

The 13-page notice made several allegations. These included what it described as "asymmetrical enforcement" of the Model Code of Conduct — citing the Commission's decision not to act on a violation by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who used the public broadcaster to criticise the Opposition in a recent address to the nation. It also cited a post on X by the Commission directed at the Trinamool Congress ahead of elections in West Bengal; what it called the poll body's "institutional proximity" to the BJP, referring to an incident in Kerala where an election document reportedly carried the seal of a BJP State unit; a disagreement between Mr. Kumar and a Trinamool Congress delegation during a recent meeting at the Commission's headquarters in Delhi; alleged "mass disenfranchisement" in West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh; the ignoring of complaints filed by Opposition parties; and the alleged illegal use of power in the transfer and posting of bureaucrats in Tamil Nadu.

What the law requires

The Election Commission of India is a three-member body headed by the Chief Election Commissioner, which conducts elections to Parliament, the State legislatures and the offices of the President and Vice-President. To protect its independence, the Constitution provides that the Chief Election Commissioner can be removed from office only in the manner provided for a judge of the Supreme Court — on grounds of proven misbehaviour or incapacity, through a motion passed by a special majority in both Houses of Parliament. Such a notice must first be admitted by the presiding officer of the House concerned. No Chief Election Commissioner has so far been removed through this route.

The charges set out in the notices are the Opposition's allegations. They have not been established.