Opposition’s symbolic trial: INDIA Alliance puts CEC Gyanesh Kumar in people’s dock
New Delhi, October 31: The Indi Coalition of opposition parties held a symbolic public ‘People’s Impeachment’ against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar in Delhi on Saturday. The Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge presented a resolution containing six charges against Gyanesh Kumar.
Former Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar presided over the event. Representatives from approximately 21 opposition parties attended the event, organized on the lines of parliamentary proceedings. Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, will deliver a statement at the end of the event.
Kharge stated in his address that the opposition has no personal grudge against Gyanesh Kumar and demands that the Election Commission function independently and impartially, in accordance with the spirit of the Constitution. He said that the voting rights of vulnerable sections, women, and youth cannot be allowed to be silently removed from the voter list through a computer by someone sitting in Delhi.
Kharge said that about seven months ago, 193 opposition MPs submitted notices in both houses of Parliament to remove the Chief Election Commissioner from his post, but no cognizance was taken of them and the notices were rejected. He said that the resolution introduced on Saturday was aimed at protecting the dignity of the constitutional institution and the fairness of the electoral process.
The Congress president alleged that vote rigging was first used in Bihar through a special deep revision of the voter list and was later implemented across the country to remove the names of anti-BJP voters. The opposition is not advocating for the names of dead voters to be retained on the list, but rather for the names of genuine and eligible voters to be protected. According to him, the central government is trying to hide its failures by raising the issue of infiltrators.
The resolution introduced by Kharge made six allegations against the Chief Election Commissioner. These allegations include involvement in a conspiracy to rig the election, the deletion of 132 million voters through a special intensive review, changes to Form 6 of the voter registration system without parliamentary oversight, centralizing control of voter lists through ECINET, excluding the other two Election Commissioners from the decision-making process, and acting on the instructions of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah.
The resolution claimed that the changes to Form 6 impacted the registration of new voters. It also alleged that control of voter lists through ERONET and ECINET software was centralized at the Election Commission level, thus affecting the authority of local electoral registration officers. The resolution accused the other two Election Commissioners of being excluded from the decision-making process, stating that they had to file at least 14 objections to official records. All these allegations are part of the resolution presented by the opposition.
The resolution also questioned the legal protections afforded to the Chief Election Commissioner under the Law on Appointment, Service Conditions and Tenure of Office of the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners, passed in December 2023. The opposition demanded the revocation of this protection and legal action against Gyanesh Kumar. The resolution also called for a court trial against him.
Former Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar, who presided over the event, stated that millions of people in the country are being unfairly deleted from the voter list, and despite questions being raised, accountability is being held without due process. She stated that this is why the Indi Alliance decided to initiate public impeachment proceedings against Gyanesh Kumar. She invited Kharge to present the resolution before the House.
It is noteworthy that the opposition alliance organized this event modeled after parliamentary proceedings, but it was not a formal proceeding to remove the Chief Election Commissioner from office under the constitutional process. The opposition had previously submitted notices in Parliament to remove him from office.
Following this event, the Indi Alliance will hold a rally at Ramlila Maidan in Delhi on November 1. According to the Congress party, 1 million people are expected to attend the rally. Rahul Gandhi has stated that the rally will begin at 12 noon from the junction of Minto Road and Connaught Place and will reach Ramlila Maidan. Opposition parties are holding this rally to protest alleged irregularities in the special deep revision of the voter list and to demand the resignation of the Chief Election Commissioner.
