Warning Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar that he would “not survive” and accusing the Election Commission of deleting 13.3 crore voters, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said on Saturday that the Opposition had been left with “no other option” but to hold a symbolic public impeachment at Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge’s residence.
Addressing a mock Parliament at 10, Rajaji Marg, Rahul said the fact that Opposition MPs, civil society representatives and citizens had assembled in a garden to question the CEC reflected the closure of institutional avenues, including Parliament, the judiciary and the Election Commission.
“We are here because we have nowhere else to go. We have no other option. Every single institutional direction is closed to us,” he said.
Rahul claimed that 13.3 crore voters, or 15 per cent of India’s electorate, had been deleted from the electoral rolls.
He argued that these voters had participated in the last Lok Sabha elections, which were decided by margins of around 3 per cent in several constituencies, and questioned the legitimacy of the results if such a large section of the electorate had subsequently been excluded.
“Mr Gyanesh Kumar is not going to survive. We have enough proof,” Rahul said, warning that the CEC could not indefinitely take shelter behind the institution he had sworn to serve.
He said the Opposition would neither forgive nor forget the alleged electoral manipulation and warned the BJP that retaining Kumar would raise questions about what the ruling party stood to gain.
The proceedings, which began with the national anthem, “Jana Gana Mana”, were presided over by former Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar. The INDIA bloc moved a resolution seeking the CEC’s removal, listing six charges, including alleged voter deletions through the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), changes to electoral rules and manipulation of electoral rolls through Election Commission software.
Opening the proceedings, Meira Kumar said crores of voters were allegedly being removed without transparency or accountability. “If even one voter is denied the right to cast their vote, the soul of our democracy is hurt,” she said.
Moving the resolution, Kharge accused Kumar of acting at the behest of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah. He said 193 Opposition MPs had submitted a notice seeking the CEC’s removal seven months earlier, but it had been rejected.
The resolution listed six charges against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, accusing him of facilitating electoral manipulation and compromising the independence of the Election Commission.
The first charge alleged a conspiracy to manipulate electoral outcomes through additions to and deletions from voter lists. The second accused the CEC of overseeing the deliberate deletion of 13.2 crore voters during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), allegedly depriving them of their voting rights.
The third charge concerned changes to Form 6 of the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, without parliamentary oversight. The Opposition alleged that these changes could make it difficult for first-time voters to register.
The fourth accused the Commission of centralising electoral roll management through ERONET and ECINET, thereby restricting the role of local Electoral Registration Officers.
The fifth charge alleged that the CEC had excluded the other two Election Commissioners from key decisions, despite objections raised within the Commission.
The sixth accused him of compromising the Election Commission’s constitutional independence by denying the Opposition a fair hearing and acting at the behest of the ruling establishment.
CPI(M) MP John Brittas said he had himself undergone two hearings to establish his eligibility as a voter. “If this is the plight of an MP, one can only imagine the predicament of an ordinary citizen,” he said.
Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Arvind Sawant questioned the figures from the Maharashtra Assembly elections, alleging that four million votes had been cast between 4 pm and 5 pm. He said the Opposition had sought CCTV footage from the Election Commission but had not received it.
Two voters also recounted how their names had been deleted despite their submitting the required documents. Iftikhar Ahmad, a resident of Kolkata’s Chowringhee constituency, said he had voted there for 20 years but had been removed from the draft electoral rolls.
Anita Jaiswal, who said she had voted in every election from 2012 to 2025, questioned why her voter ID had been deleted. “I want my old voter card back,” she said.
Trinamool Congress MP Sagarika Ghose described the alleged nexus as the “Modi, Shah, Gyanesh gathbandan” and alleged that the West Bengal Assembly elections had been stolen.
Samajwadi Party MP Harendra Malik accused the BJP and the Election Commission of depriving citizens of their voting rights, while CPI MP P. Sandosh Kumar said Kumar and his associates must go.
The resolution demanded the CEC’s immediate removal and alleged that the 2023 law provided him with protection from accountability.
After Rahul’s speech, Meira Kumar put the resolution to a vote. When the Opposition members present raised their hands in support, she declared, “Prastav parit hua” (the resolution has been passed).
The proceedings were attended by Sonia Gandhi, Independent Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal, Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti and MPs from several INDIA bloc parties, besides civil society representatives and student leaders.
