Opposition plans motion to impeach CEC Gyanesh Kumar: 'Tarnished dignity of office'

Opposition parties will move an impeachment motion against Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar, alleging he has “completely tarnished the dignity of his constitutional office,” in the wake of the Indian Express report. The Congress party has called for Kumar’s immediate resignation and former West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee demanded his arrest.

The Opposition had already submitted two impeachment notices against Kumar—on March 12 and April 24 this year. Rajya Sabha chairman CP Radhakrishnan and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla rejected the first notice, but the other notice is still pending.

Opposition discusses joint strategy

On Wednesday, senior Opposition leaders held a discussion over phone to work out a joint strategy on the Gyanesh Kumar issue following the report that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi formally objected at least 14 times over the past 10 months to decisions and orders of the Election Commission, including on additions, deletion and restoration of voters and changes to the voter registration process. The report also said that state officials in charge of electoral rolls found themselves unable to access the database because of a new technology backbone implemented by the Election Commission of India, and that the changes made in Form 6, which new voters have to fill, were against the law (the government has since clarified that the form itself wasn’t changed).

Hours after the report broke, Congress’ communications chief Jairam Ramesh said, “The Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) has completely tarnished the dignity of his constitutional office. The honesty of his intentions, his impartiality, and his ability to function independently have always been highly questionable. On April 24, 2026, 73 opposition MPs had moved an impeachment motion to remove him from office, which remains pending even now. In the meantime, today his own two colleagues have fully exposed him. There is no doubt that if a special session of Parliament is convened, opposition MPs in both Houses will move an impeachment motion to remove him from office.”

Also read: Why ECI software ERONET is at the centre of the row over SIR

New motion to cite reported EC objections

The new impeachment notice would be based on the information revealed in the report.

Lok Sabha’s Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi posted a video cautioning the EC. “Vote chori (theft) is a crime against the Indian people and a direct attack on our constitution. The BJP, RSS and EC who organised it have committed an act of treason. Justice will be served,” he said.

Congress’ Rajya Sabha MP and senior lawyer Abhishek Singhvi said “For even one second, such a person should not remain in office and he should resign.”

Accusing Kumar of defying the 1995 Supreme Court judgement that said the CEC is not superior to other ECs, Singhvi said all decisions in EC should have gone by majority decisions and the objections of the two ECs should have been taken into confidence. To be sure, the government has clarified that the objections were part of the “standard democratic process inside a constitutional body”. It has also said “differences are resolved by a majority vote”.

It isn’t clear how the decisions went through if two of the three commissioners opposed it. “It is an extremely serious issue This is double bulldozer sarkar. But now we have an outstanding example of internal bulldozer. Who bulldozed his own colleagues and runs EC as a sole feudal lord. This CEC has hijacked the EC from his own colleagues. He made his colleagues into pure puppets. Strong objections were ruled out. The majority of three members are two,” Singhvi added.

Also read: Differing views are normal but decisions unanimous: Election Commission amid row

Mamata demands action against CEC

Mamata Banerjee, a fierce critic of Gyanesh Kumar, said in Kolkata, “This is such a scandalous story. We have never seen this in our lives. This Election Commissioner must be arrested. He has no moral authority to continue, and BJP must see that they cannot destroy our Constitution. They cannot demolish democracy....”

Also read: ‘Arrest CEC Gyanesh Kumar; repoll on pre-SIR basis’: Mamata Banerjee

Addressing a press conference, former Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal said, “Today’s Indian Express story has proven that Modi ji and Amit Shah are winning elections by massively stealing votes. The mastermind behind this theft is Gyanesh Kumar. We demand that Gyanesh Kumar be arrested and immediately prosecuted for sedition, and that all the elections held in the past few years be cancelled and conducted afresh.”

CPI(M) raises concerns over poll panel functioning

CPIM politburo, led by party general secretary MA Baby said: “The issues raised by the two Election Commissioners go beyond the SIR process. It concerns the institutional integrity and democratic functioning of the Election Commission, transparency in the electoral process, over centralisation and the protection of the right to universal adult franchise. The credibility of the Election Commission as an unbiased institution is at stake. People have lost confidence in a compromised Election Commission, for which CEC Gyanesh Kumar should be held accountable. He cannot continue in office any longer.”

Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav said governments formed during a period when the Election Commission was “not functioning impartially” were “unconstitutional”, and that the “interference” with the poll panel amounted to “trampling” democracy. “The Election Commission has been exposed,” Yadav said in a press conference in Lucknow.

“This is dangerous for our democracy. This is an attempt to weaken our democracy,” he added, while questioning who was “playing with” such an institution for remaining in government.

Also read: ‘Invisible hand’: Opposition questions ECI after report on commissioners’ SIR concerns

Tejashwi alleges electoral defeat by system

In a post on X, former Bihar deputy chief minister and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav said, “As I have said before and continue to say, we were defeated in the elections by the system and the machinery. We didn’t lose; we were made to lose.”

Meanwhile, lawmaker and BJP leader Sambit Patra refuted to the allegations levelled by the Opposition. “If the three Election Commissioners who conduct elections in the country do not communicate, exchange views or consult one another, and simply keep agreeing with each other, then the Opposition parties say, ‘this is a dictatorship... and they simply keep saying yes to everything. They are all supporters of Modi.” Patra said, adding that the EC has made it clear that SIR, was carried out unanimously.