New Delhi: Months after their notice to remove chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, signed by 193 MPs in both houses of parliament, was rejected and another in the Rajya Sabha still pending, the opposition INDIA bloc on Saturday (October 31) conducted a symbolic “public impeachment” over the conduct of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, accusing Kumar of “treason against the Constitution of India”.

With permission denied for the event at Ramlila Maidan and Ashoka Hotel, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge’s lawns were designed to look like the Lok Sabha, with a wood-panelled and green backdrop, and seating arrangements with microphones as well as the Speaker’s dias where former Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar sat to preside over the proceedings.

“I don’t think anything like this has ever happened in history. The entire opposition sitting in a garden to discuss the impeachment of the CEC, it is absurd,” said leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi.

“This may look like a meeting of MPs and ordinary citizens, but it is, in fact, a political weapon aimed directly at every single person who colluded to destroy the votes of the Indian people,” he said.

A participant during a symbolic “public impeachment” of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, organised by the INDIA bloc, alleging that the right to vote was under threat as the poll panel was functioning at the behest of the Modi government, at Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge’s residence, in New Delhi. Photo: AICC via PTI

While the event was meant to be a “public impeachment” of Kumar, the speeches made it clear that it was a political fight targeting Narendra Modi and Amit Shah, with opposition leaders accusing the CEC of being a “puppet”, and the prime minister and home minister being the “puppeteers”.

The public impeachment saw 37 speakers including MPs from 18 parties, civil society activists and deleted voters. The event was attended by top opposition leaders including Sonia Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Samajwadi Party MP Dharmendra Yadav, TMC MPs Mahua Moitra, Saugata Roy, Sagarika Ghose, RJD’s........

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