New Delhi, Oct 31 INDIA bloc on Saturday carried out a symbolic “public impeachment” of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, accusing him of deleting votes to steal elections and demanding that he be tried in court for treason and jailed.
In an unprecedented event, opposition MPs and leaders, joined by civil society members, passed a resolution to “impeach” Kumar at a meeting presided over by former Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar in a setting resembling Parliament proceedings at the lawns of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge’s 10, Rajaji Marg residence here.
While Kharge, who moved the motion, alleged that the right to vote was under threat because the poll panel was functioning at the behest of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah, Rahul Gandhi said the “public impeachment” of CEC Kumar is a “political weapon” targeted at those who colluded to destroy the votes of the Indian people.
Gandhi, the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, said that 250 opposition MPs, civil society members and mediapersons sitting in the garden may appear absurd but “we had no other option, as every single institution is closed to us”.
“I don’t think anything like this has ever happened in history,” he said.
“This political weapon is going to give justice to the people of India. This is our sacred duty to the Constitution and to the people of India,” he noted
The resolution, moved by Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Kharge, seconded by Harendra Malik of Samajwadi Party and supported by Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and several opposition MPs and civil society members, was adopted unanimously by a show of hands.
INDIA bloc leaders, MPs, civil society representatives and some of the individuals who alleged wrongful deletion of their names from electoral rolls attended the event.
The meeting set the tone for the Sunday march and public rally by the opposition grouping in the national capital to ramp up pressure for CEC Kumar’s removal.
The stage at the event was designed to resemble the old Lok Sabha chamber, with a wooden-panelled backdrop and seats arranged in a semi-circular formation, similar to the seating arrangement in Parliament. Microphones were also installed in the first three rows as members spoke from their seats, supporting the resolution.
The BJP accused the INDIA bloc of making a “mockery” of Parliament and democracy and said that the Congress will not succeed no matter how much it tries to “launch” its leader Rahul Gandhi.
“Go ahead and hold your mock parliament or take out your marches; the world has already understood that Rahul Gandhi simply lacks the fuel. This ‘satellite’ is never going to launch,” BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra said in a swipe at the Congress, adding that the opposition can have Gandhi as a “mock Prime Minister for life”.
Opening the proceedings, Meira Kumar said the meeting had been convened to hold a “public impeachment” of the CEC because eligible voters were being “wrongfully” removed from electoral rolls.
“When this issue is raised by the INDIA bloc, there is no accountability. So we have decided that the INDIA bloc will hold a meeting and bring a proposal to remove Gyanesh Kumar,” she said.
Samajwadi Party MP Awadhesh Kumar and TMC’s Saugata Roy were named as deputy presiding officers and were seated below the presiding officer’s chair along with “supporting staff”.
“This may look like a meeting of MPs and ordinary citizens, but it is, in fact, a political weapon aimed directly at every single person who colluded to destroy the votes of the Indian people,” Gandhi asserted while warning officials.
He claimed that Kumar will “not survive as the CEC. We have enough evidence to ensure that this gentleman does not continue in office.”
“I fully support the motion to impeach Gyanesh Kumar, who should be tried for treason in court and justice should be served,” Gandhi said while concluding his speech, as opposition members unanimously adopted the resolution by raising their hands.
“People gathered here have a message for the Gyanesh Kumars of this world: You are hiding behind the institution you have sworn to protect. Remember, you cannot hide behind it forever. One day, you will have to face the representatives of the people of this country,” Gandhi warned.
The Congress leader said that 13.3 crore votes have been deleted, which means 130 million voters, accounting for 15 per cent of India’s electorate. The difference between the opposition and those who won the 2024 elections was only 3 per cent, which means the Election Commission itself is stating that the 2024 Lok Sabha elections were “illegal”, he claimed.
“You cannot delete these voters and still claim that the 2024 election was legitimate.”
Kharge accused CEC Kumar of treason as he read the “charges” against him, and demanded his removal, the repeal of the 2023 law governing the appointment of election commissioners and an end to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise.
“The proposal has been brought today to save the dignity of a constitutional body. We have no personal enmity with the CEC. We want the Election Commission to work impartially,” he said.
“The Modi government has hatched every conspiracy since 2014 to cling to power: stealing MPs, breaking parties, stealing governments, electoral bonds, misuse of ED/CBI. And now vote theft — cut opposition votes and rule,” he alleged, adding that there are hundreds of examples of “vote chori”.
He listed 6 charges against CEC Kumar, including a conspiracy to “steal” elections, “deletion” of 13.2 crore voters, “amending” Form 6 without Parliamentary oversight or knowledge, “seizing” electoral rolls through ECINET, “shutting out” the other two Election Commissioners and acting at the behest of PM Modi and Shah.
The resolution accused CEC Kumar of participating in a “devious and malevolent criminal conspiracy orchestrated by the BJP to steal national and state elections and asserted that he must be tried for treason in a court.
Gyanesh Kumar has “willingly broken the rule of law by allowing them to access voter rolls, to delete and add voters at will and manipulate the outcome of the elections”, it alleged.
“He is guilty of operationalising a premeditated attack on the electoral process that is the very foundation of India’s democracy. This is a criminal act and an act of treason against the nation and the Constitution of India,” said the INDIA bloc resolution.
Left leaders accused the CEC of undermining universal adult franchise through the SIR exercise and said he has lost the moral and legal authority to remain in office.
Trinamool Congress leader Sagarika Ghose alleged that the 2026 West Bengal Assembly elections were “stolen” through the deletion of eligible voters from electoral rolls and that CEC Kumar was working in collusion with the central government to undermine the people’s mandate.
Swaraj Abhiyan chief Yogendra Yadav said Gyanesh Kumar is not Chief Election Commissioner but “Chief Election Culprit”, repeating in Hindi that he was not “Mukhya Chunav Ayukt” but “Mukhya Chunav Abhiyukt”.
Several MPs, including Sandosh Kumar (CPI), Mahua Moitra (TMC), CPI(ML) Liberation MP Sudama Prasad, Independent MP Kapil Sibal, besides AISA president Neha Bora, civil society members and persons whose votes were allegedly wrongly deleted during the SIR exercise also spoke.
(PTI News)
