Opposition to Move Fresh Impeachment Notice Against CEC Gyanesh Kumar

Opposition parties are preparing to submit a fresh impeachment notice against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar in both Houses of Parliament, with the move expected within the next two weeks. The notice is being drafted and will be vetted by legal experts before it is tabled, according to sources familiar with the discussions.

This would mark the opposition's third attempt to initiate proceedings for Kumar's removal. An earlier notice submitted in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha was rejected. A separate notice moved by 73 opposition MPs on April 24 is still pending in the Rajya Sabha, but a new notice is being readied in light of recent disclosures about the functioning of the poll panel.

The Congress has reached out to other parties in the INDIA bloc, and the effort is being described as a collective one. The fresh notice follows a report that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi raised concerns at least 14 times over 10 months, mainly regarding the voter-list revision exercise that began last year. Their objections covered the manner in which the statutory voter registration Form 6 was amended, the handling of additions and deletions from voter lists, and centralised control over the electoral roll database.

The Election Commission responded on Wednesday, stating that differing views and observations are a normal part of deliberations in any institution, and that all its orders carry full legal sanction and follow established statutory procedures. The poll panel added that not only the three commissioners but every officer of the EC is authorised to submit suggestions to improve the electoral system.

Separately, the Congress has directed its state units to organise protest marches to their respective State Election Commission offices on September 25, demanding Kumar's immediate arrest, removal from office, and an independent review of all decisions and electoral roll changes made under him. All District Congress Committees have been asked to hold similar marches to their District Collectorates on September 28.

Party general secretary in-charge of organisation K C Venugopal said Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi has been exposing what he called a "massive vote chori" exercise. Venugopal alleged that Kumar's "treason" is now out in the open and demanded his arrest for what he described as anti-national acts against democracy. The Congress, he said, will take the issue to the streets.