The Trinamool Congress (TMC) moved a motion to remove Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Ganesh Kumar in the Houses of Parliament on Friday.
Two separate versions of the notice were tabled in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha on Friday, according to news agency PTI. HT had earlier reported that at least 120 Lok Sabha MPs and 60 Rajya Sabha legislators had signed a motion seeking the removal of CEC Ganesh Kumar.
Read also | 180 MPs sign notice to remove CEC chief Gyanesh Kumar; It is scheduled to be released on Parl
What are the opposition’s accusations?
The notice lists seven charges against the CEC, ranging from “partisan and discriminatory behavior in office” to “deliberate obstruction of election fraud investigation” and “mass disenfranchisement,” PTI reported.
Opposition parties have accused Chief Election Commissioner Ganesh Kumar of helping the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party on several occasions, particularly in connection with the ongoing intensified special review of electoral rolls, which they claim is aimed at benefiting the saffron party at the Centre.
Concerns have been particularly raised over the SIR exercise in West Bengal, where Trinamool Congress supremo and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has accused the Election Commission of deleting genuine voters.
The Opposition has been at loggerheads with Kumar over SIR, which it believes is an exercise aimed at disenfranchising its supporters.
Read also | Video: Central Election Commission Gyanesh Kumar faces slogans of “return” and raises black flags in Kolkata, Bengal
Who is trying to isolate the Central Election Commission?
Trinamool MP Kalyan Banerjee said that MPs from Congress, Samajwadi Party, DMK and Nationalist Congress Party (SCP) had signed the motion. He said,
“Our leader Mamata Banerjee has taken the decision to bring the impeachment motion. We have presented the motion. We have signed it, the Samajwadi Party has signed, the Congress has signed, Sharad Pawar’s Party has signed, the DMK has signed, everyone has signed it.”
On Thursday, Trinamool MP Saujata Roy said the party is preparing to file an impeachment petition against the chief election commissioner, ANI reported.
He said: “We are preparing a proposal to remove the Chief Election Commissioner. More than 100 representatives support us. We may present it today. The opposition will appear united on this matter.”
What are the procedures for impeachment by the Central Election Commission?
The Chief Electoral Commissioner can only be removed by the same procedure and on the same grounds as a judge of the Supreme Court, as provided in Article 324(5) of the Constitution. The motion must be signed by at least 100 members of the Lok Sabha or 50 members of the Rajya Sabha.
The removal of the Central Election Commission or the Election Commissioner is governed by Article 324 of the Constitution, which states that “… the Chief Election Commissioner may only be removed from office in the same manner and on the same grounds as a judge of the Supreme Court…”
The process is also governed by the Inquiry Act, which provides: “If notice is given in the House of States, by not less than one hundred members of that House; (b) If notice is given in the House of States, by not less than fifty members of that House; the Speaker of the House, or, as the case may be, the President, after consulting such persons, if any, as he thinks fit and after considering such materials, if any, as may be available to him, may either accept or refuse to recognize the motion.”
