Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Sept 24: Even as the Opposition is learnt to be preparing to move a fresh impeachment motion against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar with the Congress taking the initiative and parties within the INDIA bloc reaching an agreement on the move, the ruling BJP on Thursday launched a scathing attack on Congress, saying Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha (LoP) Rahul Gandhi has “zero” political sense.
Reacting to Rahul Gandhi’s press conference earlier in the day demanding Kumar’s resignation in view of the media report of the CEC having “rigged” the election process, the BJP’s spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi said, “Congress could not win a single election on its own strength. Priyanka Gandhi won the Wayanad seat with the support of the Muslim League.”
“In Bengal, there has been no Congress government since 1977. In Bihar, there has been no Congress government since 1990. In UP, Congress has not been in power since 1989. Since 1999, Congress has not been in power in Odisha,” Trivedi said.
On the media report on anomalies in the Election Commission and SIR process, Sudhanshu Trivedi asked why the statements of Election Commissioners were not used in the report. “How can it be a valid report without the statements of Election Commissioners?” he said.
The remarks came a day after media revealed that questions were repeatedly raised on issues related to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls within the three-member Election Commission (EC) by two of the three election commissioners, Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi.
The national rollout of the SIR has been under the supervision of all three commissioners. But Sandhu and Joshi have formally objected, on record, at least 14 times over the last 10 months four times on a single day to decisions taken and orders issued, they say, without their knowledge. The opposition parties have criticised the Election Commission over the SIR exercise, alleging that it could disproportionately affect voters perceived to be not aligned with the BJP and its allies.
Meanwhile, the Opposition’s INDIA bloc is once again preparing to bring an impeachment motion in Parliament for the removal of the CEC. According to sources, a draft of the motion is currently being prepared, and the notice is likely to be submitted in the coming days. Sources said the notice can be submitted even when Parliament is not in session, and that the move is likely to take place by next week.
The Opposition has cited the reported objections as fresh grounds for action against Mr Kumar. The Election Commission, however, has rejected any suggestion that its decisions were divided or that the two Election Commissioners had formally dissented from decisions of the full Commission. The poll body has said all its decisions over the past year, including those concerning SIR, were unanimous.
The latest move comes months after Opposition MPs had already submitted a notice seeking Kumar’s removal. A Lok Sabha document shows that a notice dated March 12, 2026, signed by 130 MPs, was submitted under Article 324(5) of the Constitution and related provisions. The Lok Sabha Speaker subsequently refused to admit the notice.
The fresh initiative is being discussed in the wake of the latest report on differences within the three-member Election Commission and the objections reportedly recorded by Sandhu and Joshi.
On April 24, 73 Opposition MPs in the Rajya Sabha submitted a notice seeking his removal from office on grounds of alleged “proven misbehaviour.” Congress had said at the time that the notice contained nine specific charges. The Opposition had tried a similar move on March 12, but the notice was rejected by the chairman of the Rajya Sabha.
That notice remains pending, according to Congress sources and Opposition leaders. The Opposition is now preparing a new notice that will incorporate the latest revelations, sources said. The April notice was signed by 73 MPs. Opposition sources said seven of those signatories have since switched sides, prompting the need for a fresh initiative based on the current composition of the House and the latest allegations.
The move follows an earlier attempt in March, when Opposition parties had submitted notices in both Houses seeking Mr Kumar’s removal. Those notices were rejected on April 6 by the Rajya Sabha Chairman and Lok Sabha Speaker.
The procedure for removing a Chief Election Commissioner follows the same procedure applicable to the removal of a Supreme Court judge. A removal motion requires the requisite number of parliamentary members to initiate the process, followed by an inquiry if the motion is admitted and, ultimately, a special majority in Parliament.
Earlier in the day, Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi ramped up the Opposition’s attack on the CEC, demanding that he be tried for “treason” over unfair election practices. Priyanka demanded the criminal prosecution of Gyanesh Kumar, alleging that he intentionally permitted the deletion of around 13 crore names from electoral rolls.
Speaking to reporters in Wayanad, Vadra alleged that tampering with electoral rolls and deleting voters amounted to a criminal act against democracy, the Constitution and the country. She said anyone who interferes with the democratic process of elections should be held accountable. “Anybody who plays around with the democratic process of our elections is committing treason against this nation,” she said, adding that this was the Congress’s “very clear stand.”