NEW DELHI: Opposition parties on Friday filed a fresh notice in the Rajya Sabha seeking to move a motion to remove Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Ganesh Kumar, people familiar with the matter said.
The notice, signed by 73 opposition MPs from 11 parties, accuses Kumar of “substantiated misconduct” involving “continued party asymmetry in enforcement of the Model Code of Conduct”, including the failure of the poll panel to act on complaints against Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “address to the nation” on April 18.
Congress leader Jairam Ramesh and TMC leader Sagarika Ghose submitted the notice to the General Secretary of Rajya Sabha.
“In the Rajya Sabha, 73 MPs of the Opposition have just submitted a fresh notice of motion to their Secretary General to submit a resolution addressed to the President of India, urging the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar from office,” Ramesh said in the Rajya Sabha.
“This application is based on proven misconduct arising out of his acts and wrongdoings committed by him on 15 March 2026 onwards, which falls under Article 324(5) of the Constitution of India when read with Article 124(4), as well as Section 11(2) of the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Service) Act, 2023, and the Judges (Investigation) Act, 1968,” he said.
The notice calls for a letter to be addressed to the President to remove Kumar, based on the provisions of the Constitution, the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners Act, 2023, and the Judges (Investigation) Act, 1968. The MPs have cited a series of alleged acts and omissions by the CEC, the accumulation of which they claim amounts to misconduct of a “serious nature”.
HT contacted ECI officials, but they refused to comment on the matter.
The move comes days after similar notices submitted by opposition MPs in both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha were rejected by the respective chairpersons. This was the first time that a notice requesting the removal of the CEC had been presented to Parliament.
