The Opposition might out on hold its plan to move a motion for removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar as INDIA bloc leaders prefer political programmes and public outreach over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral roll, leaders aware of the matter said on Wednesday.
The Congress had announced last week that the Opposition will move a fresh impeachment motion against Kumar in the wake of the Indian Express’ report on objections raised by the two Election Commissioners on SIR-related decisions. The change of plan comes even as Congress lawmaker Abhishek Singhvi has already drafted the notice against Kumar. You can’t get there alone. But together we will,” in an apparent reference to upcoming political battles and elections. Several suggestions to take on the CEC over the SIR came from across parties. Mamata Banerjee and CPI(M-L) chief Dipankar Bhattacharya pitched for quick action on the ground to reach out to the people. Banerjee suggested a march to the Election Commission soon after the meeting. She demanded EC’s Director General (IT) Seema Khanna should be arrested. Banerjee described how violence in West Bengal during the elections has spread to education institutes. Congress Parliamentary party chief Sonia Gandhi expressed support for both Banerjee and Bhattacharya’s plans.
A similar notice, signed by 73 MPs, is pending before the Rajya Sabha after the first Opposition-sponsored notice in March this year was rejected by the presiding officers of both Houses.
A senior Congress leader close to Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi said that “there is a rethink” on the motion for CEC removal. In the meeting, Gandhi emphasised a broad-based partnership and said, “We can’t get there alone. “There is no point saying who suffered more,” Gandhi also suggested, adding that fighting Prime Minister Modi and Gyanesh Kumar “has to be done by everybody. Gandhi also said he has studied how election manipulation is happening and has started getting “serious information” against the government from officials in central agencies such as CBI and ED, which didn’t happen earlier.
