Opposition Moves Fresh Motion to Remove CEC Gyanesh Kumar Citing Proven Misbehaviour

NEW DELHI: Opposition MPs in Rajya Sabha on Friday submitted to the secretary general a fresh notice seeking to move a motion to remove Gyanesh Kumar as chief election commissioner on the ground of "proven misbehaviour". Earlier this month, notices submitted by opposition MPs in both LS and RS were rejected by the speaker and the chairman, respectively. In its fresh notice, opposition has levelled nine new charges against Kumar. According to Congress spokesperson Jairam Ramesh, a motion has been sought "on the ground of proven misbehaviour" — one of the instances being the "Straight Talk" social media post by EC after a meeting with a TMC delegation on April 8. The meeting had ended on an acrimonious note, with TMC leaders saying the CEC asked them to "get lost", and EC accusing them of shouting. "There are now nine specific charges against the CEC that have been documented in great detail and that simply cannot be denied or whitewashed away. His continuation is an assault on the Constitution. It is an absolute disgrace that the man continues to be in office to do the bidding of PM and HM," Ramesh said. The motion has been signed by MPs from Congress, TMC, DMK, SP, RJD, CPI, CPM, NCP(SP), Shiv Sena (UBT), JMM, IUML, NC and AAP. As part of the fresh charges, opposition has accused Kumar of "continued partisan asymmetry in enforcement of model code of conduct", wherein it is alleged that EC failed to act on complaints against PM Narendra Modi's address to the nation on April 18 on the defeated Constitution amendment bill related to women's reservation amid assembly polls. CEC "has issued no show-cause notice, no advisory, and no public response" to any of the complaints made regarding this, it said. Other charges include "administrative lapses evidencing institutional proximity to the governing party" and "conduct unbecoming of a constitutional functionary". The list of charges also includes mass disenfranchisement in West Bengal involving deletion of around 91 lakh voters and judicial exclusion of around 34 lakh voters from the franchise.