Modi govt exacerbated voters' concerns over integrity of electoral process: Rahul Gandhi slams new CEC appointment

In a long X post, Rahul wrote, "During the meeting of the committee to select the next Election Commissioner, I presented a dissent note to the PM and HM, that stated: The most fundamental aspect of an independent Election Commission free from executive interference is the process of choosing the Election Commissioner and Chief Election Commissioner.

"By violating the Supreme Court order and removing the Chief Justice of India from the committee, the Modi Government has exacerbated the concerns of hundreds of millions of voters over the integrity of our electoral process."

He added, "As the LoP it is my duty to uphold the ideals of Babasaheb Ambedkar and the founding leaders of our nation and hold the government to account.

"It is both disrespectful and discourteous for the PM and HM to have made a midnight decision to select the new CEC, when the very composition of the committee and the process is being challenged in the Supreme Court and is due to be heard in less than forty-eight hours."

Gyanesh Kumar, who replaced Rajiv Kumar, is the first CEC to be appointed under the new law. He will oversee the conduct of the Bihar Assembly election later this year and the polls in West Bengal, Assam, and Tamil Nadu next year.

Kumar, a 1988-batch IAS officer from Kerala cadre, is the senior of the two commissioners on the three-member panel.

The appointment came shortly after a meeting of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi this evening to pick a successor to Rajiv Kumar who retires on Tuesday.

Even as the Congress party objected to the selection of a CEC stating that the law for appointment to the post was challenged in the Supreme Court, the Centre went ahead with the same.

The top court is expected to hear the matter on February 22.

"When the Supreme Court indicated that it would be hearing the matter on the 22nd, we wanted the meeting to be postponed. The legal team of the Congress has also endorsed the decision," the Congress had said.

Traditionally, the President of India appoints the Chief Election Commissioner on the advice of the Prime Minister. The appointee has to be the senior most of the two remaining election commissioners.

Gayanesh Kumar has been appointed under a new law  - Chief Election Commissioner And Other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service And Term of Office) Act, 2023.

Under this, a committee headed by the law minister shortlisted five candidates, and the selection team comprising the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition, and a cabinet minister took the final call.

This law, however, has been challenged in the Supreme Court. The point of contention is that including a cabinet minister instead of the Chief Justice, as was expected, violates the panel's neutrality.