New Delhi: The Opposition is considering moving a no-confidence motion against Chief Election Commissioner Ganesh Kumar after disposing of a similar motion against Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, which is currently under consideration before the House, two senior opposition leaders said on Monday.
“I have been holding talks with allies of the India Group and all parties are committed to moving a no-confidence motion against Kumar on the ongoing intensified special review of voter lists in various states,” a senior Congress leader, requesting anonymity, said.
“It will be done one by one. We expect the notice against Birla to be taken up on Tuesday,” the Congress leader said.
Signatures of at least 100 Lok Sabha MPs and at least 50 Rajya Sabha MPs are required for the notice to be considered.
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According to the 2023 Law on the Appointment and Functions of the Central Election Commission and the Executive Committee, “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.” In other words, this means that the CEC can only be removed by impeachment in both houses of Parliament.
A motion for impeachment may be moved in either House of Parliament and must be passed by a special majority – a majority of the total members of the House and a two-thirds majority of the members present and voting.
At the opposition leaders’ meeting on strategy on Monday morning, Trinamool Congress chief Shatabdi Rai reminded the leaders that the TMC wants to discuss SIR as a priority.
Kumar and the opposition have repeatedly clashed over Operation SIR, which began in Bihar last year and was recently implemented in 12 districts. In September 2025, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi alleged that Kumar was “protecting vote thieves and destroying democracy.”
Rahul Gandhi even held two press conferences in which he claimed that the Election Commission of India had not stopped questionable voter recruitment in Karnataka and Maharashtra, drawing sharp reactions from the poll panel.
The opposition even went to the Supreme Court to stop the SIR, which they claimed was biased in favor of the BJP. However, the Supreme Court did not stop the SIR even when it held lengthy hearings on the modalities of the exercise.
Last month, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee became the first chief minister to actively argue against SIR in the Supreme Court. “We have only one point; everyone should be given the right to vote. We want to ensure voting rights for everyone… If you think you can seize power by attacking and intimidating people and removing names from the voters list, it will not happen,” the Prime Minister said on Monday.
The TMC, which initially distanced itself from the Congress-led opposition’s efforts to remove Birla, later offered support because it wanted the opposition to support its efforts to remove Kumar.
Both resolutions are certain to fail as the National Democratic Alliance is strong enough in both chambers to defeat any motion of no confidence.
Sambit Patra, a BJP MP, said: “…The way the Election Commission is being misused and the words used, shows only one thing that all constitutional institutions have their own limits, each has its own boundaries, and that one constitutional institution always respects another constitutional institution.”
