Opposition Moves to Oust India’s CEC as Congress Seeks Fundamental Right to Vote

Overview

• Opposition MPs filed a fresh notice in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday seeking a motion to remove Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
• Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said the Election Commission is compromised under Kumar and called him a player rather than a neutral umpire.
• Ramesh urged making the right to vote a fundamental right, noting it is now a statutory or constitutional right and not directly enforceable in court.
• He pressed the government to reveal how many non-citizens were detected, deleted, and deported under Amit Shah’s so-called three Ds, warning such drives risk voter deletions.
• He cited recent special revisions of electoral rolls that struck off large numbers of names in several states, and he said the opposition will keep pushing after an earlier removal notice was rejected by the chair.