INDIA bloc to hold “public impeachment” of CEC Gyanesh Kumar at Kharge’s residence at 3:30 pm today

New Delhi: The INDIA bloc will hold a “public impeachment” of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar on Friday from 3:30 pm at Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge’s residence at 10 Rajaji Marg, as a symbolic protest over the “vote chori” issue and the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

Former Lok Sabha speaker Meira Kumar will chair the proceedings, Kharge will move the “motion,” and Rahul Gandhi will make the concluding remarks before the motion is adopted. Besides Kharge and Gandhi, one person from each party is likely to speak. The programme is being planned along the lines of a parliamentary proceeding and structured like a session of Parliament. Congress general secretaries Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Jairam Ramesh and K C Venugopal, TMC’s Derek O’Brien, SP’s Harendra Malik, JMM’s Mahua Maji and CPI(M)’s John Brittas, among others, took part in Thursday’s preparatory meeting.

Jairam Ramesh said on Wednesday that, having been denied other locations, the “INDIA janbandhan” would hold the event at Kharge’s residence. The Congress claimed on Tuesday it had been denied permission and accused the government of trying to “silence” the voice of the common people. The reports I found do not say which authority declined permission or on what grounds. Ramesh said the CEC has violated the letter and spirit of the Constitution. The Congress and other opposition parties have been demanding Kumar’s resignation over alleged irregularities in the SIR exercise. The BJP, which has said it is running a counter-campaign titled “Save Democracy, Remove Anarchy,” has held meetings to counter the opposition’s narrative. Neither Kumar nor the Election Commission had commented on the event at the time of writing.

The event has no legal standing. Under the 2023 law on appointments and service conditions, the CEC cannot be removed except in the same manner and on the same grounds as a Supreme Court judge. For the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha to admit a removal motion, at least 100 and 50 members, respectively, must sign it. The Constitution does not use the word impeachment for the CEC.

The opposition has tried the formal route. After Kumar’s press conference on August 17, 2025, 20 opposition parties said the Election Commission had completely failed in its constitutional duty and did not rule out moving an impeachment motion. On April 6, 2026, Rajya Sabha Chairman C P Radhakrishnan and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla rejected the notice of motion to remove Kumar, which the opposition had submitted in both Houses for the first time. They refused to admit it after considering all relevant aspects. The Supreme Court is also hearing petitions on the Election Commission’s functioning, which are scheduled for November 17.