Impeachment of CEC: Opposition parties to decide together

Congress leader K C Venugopal said the Opposition will collectively decide on moving an impeachment motion against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. The statement comes after Mamata Banerjee called for such a move over the SIR issue

New Delhi: Congress leader K C Venugopal on Wednesday said the entire Opposition will take a collective call on moving an impeachment motion against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, a day after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee called for such a move.

Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, however, refused to comment on the matter.

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Talking to mediapersons in the Parliament House complex, Venugopal said they are “positively” looking at the suggestion.

“The Trinamool Congress has already contacted the Congress… I think the entire Opposition will take a call on the matter, which is one of the most relevant issues raised by the Trinamool. We are positively looking at it,” the Congress general secretary in charge of organisation said.

Asked about Banerjee’s remarks, Gandhi, however, said, “I am not commenting on that.”

Banerjee, who is in the national capital as part of her campaign against the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in West Bengal, on Tuesday called for the impeachment of the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and sought to rally support from other Opposition parties on the issue.

The Trinamool supremo’s remarks came a day after she, along with her delegation, walked out of a meeting with CEC Kumar and other election commissioners on the issue of SIR, alleging that the poll panel chief showed arrogance and humiliated them.

Flanked by people from her state allegedly affected by the SIR exercise, Banerjee claimed at a press conference that the electors whose names were being deleted were Trinamool supporters.

The process for impeaching the CEC is similar to that for a Supreme Court judge. The removal can take place only on the grounds of proven misbehaviour or incapacity.

A motion for removal may be introduced in either House of Parliament and must be passed by a special majority – a majority of the total membership of the House and a two-thirds majority of the members present and voting.