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The opposition on Wednesday intensified its demand for impeachment against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
This demand has been raised in the background of 'The Indian Express' report, which states that during the Special Intensive Revision or SIR campaign last year, the Election Commissioners were not informed about many decisions and both the Election Commissioners had repeatedly raised objections to these decisions.
Indian Express journalist Ritika Chopra said in her report that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi lodged objections to many decisions of the Commission in the last 10 months.
The Election Commission has given its stand on the media report. The Commission said that it is a normal process to receive different opinions, suggestions and comments in a multi-member constitutional body. The Commission said that all the final decisions taken in the last one year, including the SIR, have been taken unanimously.
The tenure of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar has been much talked about and controversial. He has been the target of opposition for many of his decisions.
Let us know who is Gyanesh Kumar who took over as Chief Election Commissioner in February 2025.
When Gyanesh Kumar took over as the 26th Chief Election Commissioner of India in February 2025, his role in the abrogation of the provisions of Article 370 of the Constitution and the establishment of the Ram Mandir Trust was prominently mentioned in his career profile.
Who is Gyanesh Kumar?
Gyanesh Kumar is a 1988 batch IAS officer of Kerala cadre. Gyanesh Kumar retired from the post of Union Cooperation Secretary on January 31, 2024. He was the Secretary in the ministry under Union Minister Amit Shah since May 2022. Two months later, on March 14, 2024, he was made the Election Commissioner.
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He took charge on March 15 and the very next day the Election Commission announced the schedule for the Lok Sabha elections.
Almost a year after assuming the post of Election Commissioner, he was made the Chief Election Commissioner.
He had previously worked in the Home Ministry for five years, where he held the post of Joint Secretary from May 2016 to September 2018 and then Additional Secretary from September 2018 to April 2021.
Kashmir to Ram Mandir connection
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While holding the post of Additional Secretary, Gyanesh Kumar was looking after the affairs of Jammu and Kashmir and in August 2019, the abrogation of Article 370 was announced.
According to the report of Hindustan Times, when the law to abrogate Article 370 was being brought, he used to regularly come to Parliament with Home Minister Amit Shah.
According to a report in the English newspaper Indian Express, the confidence of the Narendra Modi government in Gyanesh Kumar as a bureaucrat is reflected in the fact that not only was he given the responsibility of drafting one of the confidential bills, the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization Bill, but he was also involved in the formation of the Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust.
According to the same report, during his tenure as Cooperation Secretary, the Multi-State Cooperative Societies (MSCS) (Amendment) Bill, 2023 was passed, which aimed to increase transparency and accountability in the cooperative sector.
Lok Sabha elections were held in 2024 during the tenure of Gyanesh Kumar as the Election Commissioner and also for the first time after the abrogation of Article 370, assembly elections were held in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir. Apart from this, assembly elections were held in Haryana, Jharkhand, Maharashtra and Delhi.
Gyanesh Kumar's tenure as Chief Election Commissioner will be till January 26, 2029. There will be 20 assembly elections during his tenure. Besides, the elections for the post of President and Vice President in 2027 and preparations for the 2029 Lok Sabha elections will also take place during his tenure.
Gyanesh Kumar has done B.Tech in Civil Engineering from IIT Kanpur. He has also studied Business Finance from the Institute of Chartered Financial Analysts of India.
opposition protest
The main opposition party Congress had opposed the appointment of Gyanesh Kumar as Chief Election Commissioner.
Senior Congress leader and senior Supreme Court lawyer Abhishek Manu Singhvi had said in a press conference, "The new law 'The Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioner Act' that the Modi government has brought in 2023 for the selection of the Chief Election Commissioner, has been challenged in the Supreme Court. So far, the Supreme Court has passed three orders regarding this and the next hearing is to be held on February 19.
Singhvi said, “Therefore, Congress's stand regarding the selection of the Chief Election Commissioner is very clear. The meeting related to the election of the Chief Election Commissioner should be postponed."
"Modi government should ask the Supreme Court to complete its hearing soon. Congress will give full support in this. Modi government should leave its ego and accept this demand."
The Prime Minister is the Chairman of the panel that selects the Chief Election Commissioner and Election Commissioners, while one of its members is Home Minister Amit Shah and the other member is Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi.
However, the government ignored Congress's objection and held a meeting and decided to make Gyanesh Kumar the Chief Election Commissioner.
Selection under new law for the first time
This was the first time that the Chief Election Commissioner was selected under the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Act, 2023. Earlier in the year 2024, Gyanesh Kumar and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu were elected as Election Commissioners under the new law.
Before this new law, the Chief Election Commissioner and Election Commissioners were appointed by the President on the recommendation of the government. This new law comes after the Supreme Court's decision of March 2023, in which it was made mandatory that the selection panel will include the Prime Minister, the Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition and the Chief Justice of India.
The court had said that this order will remain in place until the Parliament makes a law on it. By bringing a law, the Central Government replaced the Chief Justice with a Union Minister in this panel.
