Opposition to submit notice to Parliament this week to seek motion for CEC’s removal | India News

NEW DELHI: The Joint Opposition stepped up its attack on Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar as it collected signatures of MPs to submit a notice seeking a motion for his removal in the Secretariat of both Houses of Parliament this week. This is the first time that a notice seeking removal will be issued to the CEC.Notifications – Powered by TMC – To be submitted to the Speaker of the Lok Sabha and the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha through the Secretary General of the House concerned. Sources said the notice seeking removal of the CEC contained around half a dozen allegations, ranging from biased behavior of the CEC to widespread disenfranchisement of voters. All India Bloc Party MPs and even Aam Aadmi Party who are not part of the bloc have signed the letter, sources said. It is likely to be submitted on Thursday itself but not later than Friday, sources said.Around 120 MPs have signed the submission notice in the Lok Sabha and around 60 MPs have signed the submission notice in the Upper House till Wednesday evening.As per the procedure, at least 100 MPs have to sign a notice to remove the CEC in the lower house and 50 in the Rajya Sabha.A notice of removal has been sent to the CEC in the wake of mounting allegations against Kumar by opposition parties. The Trinamool has been demanding a notice to remove CEC Kumar for months West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee And Lok Sabha MP and party national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee has been raising the issue repeatedly while leading protests over the SIR process in states gearing up for assembly elections. They accused the CEC of bias and running an arbitrary Special Intensive Corrections (SIR) exercise to help the BJP. The West Bengal chief minister, while addressing a press conference in February, said he was in favor of removing the CEC and said he was willing to join hands with the Congress and other opposition parties to support the issue.“We don’t have the numbers, but there is a provision to remove the CEC. At least our stand will be recorded. If they (Congress) do something like that, we will also take our party MPs into confidence,” he said.While there was no immediate deal as demanded by other allies, the India bloc was seen making moves before the budget session resumed on Monday. On Saturday, the TMC announced that it would support the motion to remove Birla in the House, though it did not sign the opposition notice to remove Birla when it was submitted in the first half of the budget session, citing that the opposition wanted to write to the Speaker first and give him time for corrective action before sending the notice.On Monday, at the India Bloc strategy meeting at Congress president Mallikarjun Kharg’s office in Parliament, the TMC raised the issue to reiterate its demand to submit a notice to remove the CEC. On Wednesday, even as the opposition’s notice to remove the Speaker in the Lok Sabha was defeated in a voice vote, the joint opposition gathered signatures of MPs from both houses to strengthen the Bharat Bloc’s strong alignment in the process against the CEC and against the BJP.The process to remove the CEC is similar to removing a judge of the Supreme Court and only on “proved misconduct or incapacity”.According to the Judges (Inquiry) Act, 1968, once a motion for the removal of a judge is passed by either House, the Speaker or the Chairman, as the case may be, shall constitute a three-member committee to inquire into the grounds on which the removal is sought.As per rules, once the committee submits its report, it will be tabled in the House and debate on impeachment will begin. A motion to remove a judge and the CEC in this case has to be passed by both houses. It must be passed by a supermajority — a majority of the total number of members of the House plus a two-thirds majority of members present and voting.The BJP coalition’s majority in both houses made the opposition’s move a non-starter but allowed the opposition to register a joint protest against the CEC.