Left parties demand CEC Gyanesh Kumar's removal, call nationwide protest from Sept 26

Five Left parties have issued a joint statement demanding the removal of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar and an immediate halt to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. The parties have also announced a week-long nationwide protest from September 26 to October 2 to press their demands.

The Commission functions as a three-member body, with the CEC and two Election Commissioners, and its decisions are expected to be taken collectively. The statement came after media reports that several “collective decisions” of the Election Commission of India (ECI) were in fact taken by the CEC alone, without keeping the two Election Commissioners in the loop. According to those reports, the Commissioners have objected to several decisions endorsed by Mr. Kumar, including the centralisation of the electoral rolls database.

The SIR is an intensive, door-to-door revision of the electoral rolls. The Commission has described the exercise as a measure to make the rolls accurate and free of duplicate and dead entries. Several Opposition parties, however, contend that it risks leaving out eligible voters. The exercise has become one of the sharpest political flashpoints in recent months.

The five parties — the Communist Party of India (Marxist), the Communist Party of India, the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation, the Revolutionary Socialist Party, and the All India Forward Bloc — signed the joint statement. It was issued after an impromptu meeting at the CPI(M)’s headquarters, AKG Bhawan, in Delhi, between CPI(M) general secretary M.A. Baby, CPI general secretary D. Raja, and CPI(ML) Liberation general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya.

The parties have demanded that the CEC be removed from office, that the SIR be halted, and that voting rights be restored to all those who have been wrongfully excluded from the electoral rolls. They have also sought the restoration of the Election Commission’s “independent and democratic functioning” and a change in the present system of appointing Election Commissioners.

On appointments, the Left parties want a mechanism based on the selection committee proposed by the Supreme Court, comprising the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition, and the Chief Justice of India. Under the law now in force — the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Act, 2023 — appointments are made by a committee of the Prime Minister, a Union Minister nominated by the Prime Minister, and the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha. In a 2023 ruling, the Supreme Court had directed that the Chief Justice of India be part of the panel until Parliament enacted a law on the subject.

In their statement, the Left parties said the latest reports confirm concerns raised repeatedly by Opposition parties and civil society organisations, and show the hollowness of claims that the SIR and the management of electoral rolls are transparent and decentralised.

The parties said the issue goes far beyond the SIR. “It concerns the transparency and democratic functioning of the ECI and the protection of the fundamental democratic principle of universal adult franchise,” the statement said. “Any system that makes the right to vote dependent on opaque, centrally controlled processes undermines public confidence in the electoral system.”

The protest is scheduled to be held across the country, beginning on September 26 and ending on October 2.