INDIA bloc holds mock impeachment of CEC Gyanesh Kumar, Rahul Gandhi calls him 'first target'

New Delhi: In an exercise in political optics, Opposition INDIA bloc leaders and MPs on Saturday held a mock public impeachment of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar in a mock Parliament, accusing him of enabling "vote theft" and disenfranchising crores of voters through a "flawed" Special Intensive Revision (SIR). It was the first such mock exercise by the Opposition.

In his closing speech, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi said: "Mr Gyanesh Kumar is not going to survive as the Chief Election Commissioner. We already have enough proof to make sure that this gentleman cannot survive. And if the BJP insists on keeping him after we reveal what we know, it will be very clear what the BJP's game is... Mr Modi and Mr Shah might be on top. We will deal with them, but you (Kumar) are their instruments, and so you are our first target."

Held at the residence of Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge, the mock session was attended by leaders of INDIA bloc allies, including the three Gandhis, Kharge (Congress), Tejashwi Yadav (RJD), Hemant Soren (JMM), MA Baby (CPM) and Mehbooba Mufti (PDP). Some others, including Akhilesh Yadav (SP), Mamata Banerjee (TMC-M) and Uddhav Thackeray (SS-UBT), did not turn up. Most INDIA bloc parties were represented by some of their MPs. Former Speaker Meira Kumar presided over the event.


Gandhi said the fact that Opposition MPs were forced to hold the event in Kharge's garden (lawns) was itself a strong message. "This is an extremely dangerous political weapon, that is sitting in the garden of the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, and this weapon is targeted directly at every single person, starting from Mr Gyanesh Kumar, going to Mr Modi, going to Mr Shah, and every single person who has colluded to destroy the vote of the Indian people. Remember, you will not always hide behind that institution... you are going to face the people's representatives."

The mock session passed an "impeachment resolution" moved by Kharge, which levelled six charges against the CEC: "Conspired to Steal Elections. Deleted 13.2 Crore Voters through SIR. Rewrote Form 6 without Parliamentary oversight. Seized the electoral rolls through ECINET. Shut out the other two election commissioners. Acted at the behest of PM Modi and HM Amit Shah."