INDIA Bloc Organizes Symbolic 'Public Impeachment' Against CEC Gyanesh Kumar

On Saturday, Rajya Sabha Leader of the Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge led a symbolic 'public impeachment' event at his New Delhi residence, chaired by former Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar. During the event, Kharge leveled six serious allegations against Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar, accusing him of undermining the integrity of electoral processes.

Allegations Against the CEC

Kharge outlined the following claims:

• Conspiring to facilitate 'vote theft'.
• Unauthorized deletion of 13.3 crore voters.
• Rewriting Form 6 without parliamentary oversight.
• Centralizing control of electoral rolls via the ECINET system.
• Alleged breach of constitutional mandate by bypassing other election commissioners.
• Acting under the influence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah.

Opposition Demands

The INDIA bloc has formalized three primary demands:

• The immediate removal of the current CEC.
• An end to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise for electoral rolls.
• Legislative amendments to the 2023 law governing the appointment of the CEC.

Kharge argued that the 2023 law grants the CEC excessive protection, which he alleges enables these irregularities. He cited the discrepancy between recent Lok Sabha and state assembly election results in Maharashtra and Haryana as evidence of potential interference. Meanwhile, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, has called for a march in New Delhi on Sunday leading to a November 1 rally at Ramlila Maidan. Delhi Police sources indicated that no formal permission for the march route starting from Connaught Place had been requested.