Kharge moves motion to remove Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar at mock Parliament

Congress president and Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge on Saturday (October 31) moved a motion seeking the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar from office. The occasion was the INDIA bloc's symbolic event "Janata Ka Mahabhiyog" (People's Impeachment), held in the form of a mock Parliament at Kharge's residence in New Delhi.

At the mock Parliament, Kharge levelled six charges against Gyanesh Kumar. According to him, the first is that the Chief Election Commissioner conspired to rig elections. Second, the names of 13.2 crore voters were deleted. Third, control over the voter list was concentrated in one place through ECINET. Fourth, Form 6 was altered without Parliament's approval. Fifth, the other two Election Commissioners were kept out of the decision-making process. And the sixth charge is that he is working on the directions of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Amit Shah.

Targeting the Modi government at the Centre, Kharge said, "Since 2014, every effort has been made to gain power and to retain it. MPs were bought, political parties were broken, governments were toppled. Electoral bonds, the ED and the CBI were used. Now votes are being stolen. We have hundreds of examples of vote theft."

Kharge also objected to the 2023 law on the appointment of the Chief Election Commissioner and the other Election Commissioners. He alleged that the law was passed in December 2023, when 145 Opposition MPs were suspended. He also said the law gives Election Commissioners legal protection.

Kharge began his speech by remembering Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. He said the Constitution gave citizens the right to vote, but alleged that the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh did not accept this right.

Kharge said, "We have no personal anger towards the Chief Election Commissioner. We only want fair elections. But the Chief Election Commissioner is working according to the Prime Minister's directions."

He made it clear that the right to vote is in danger today and that the Opposition will put in its full strength to save democracy. The INDIA bloc's symbolic impeachment event was held to raise questions about the Election Commission's way of working and about the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter lists.