‘Disrespectful, discourteous’, says Rahul Gandhi’s dissent note on CEC appointment

NEW DELHI: Oppposition leader in the Lok Sabha and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday expressed strong dissent on the process by which the new Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar was appointed, criticising Prime Minister Narendra Modi government’s decision to exclude the Chief Justice of India from the selection committee.

He said that by violating the Supreme Court order and “removing” the Chief Justice from the selection committee, the government has “exacerbated the concerns of hundreds of millions of voters over the integrity of our electoral process”.

On February 17, the government appointed Gyanesh Kumar as the new CEC, to succeed Rajiv Kumar. The Lok Sabha LoP, who is part of the committee led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi submitted his dissent note, terming the selection process as both “disrespectful and discourteous.”

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… pic.twitter.com/JeL9WSfq3X

— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) February 18, 2025

“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”, the Congress leader said in his dissent note he shared today on X.

His note further added that it is his duty to uphold ideals of Babasaheb Ambedkar and hold the government to account. “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”, the note read.

Former Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar is set to retire today. In terms of seniority, Gyanesh Kumar will be the senior-most Election Commissioner after Rajiv Kumar’s retirement and has tenure till January 26, 2029. The central government had earlier set up a search committee ahead of the meeting. The CEC and EC are appointed by the President of India based on recommendations of a selection committee.

The Congress party has heavily objected to the process, and earlier urged the government to postpone the selection meeting, as there is a case in the Supreme Court regarding the appointment of the previous CEC. The party yesterday said that the new process “creates a partisan and non-neutral mechanism for the selection of Election Commissioners”.

#WATCH | Congress MP Abhishek Manu Singhvi says, “Removing or trying to keep the Chief Justice out of the appointment (of CEC) process as an independent entity, the govt has made it clear, they want only control but not credibility. The most important thing for the Election… pic.twitter.com/6tiRjkgJkz

— ANI (@ANI) February 17, 2025

Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi said the government wants “only control but not credibility”, and the most important aspect for the Election Commission is “credibility”. He said, “Removing or trying to keep the Chief Justice out of the appointment (of CEC) process as an independent entity, the government has made it clear, they want only control but not credibility. The most important thing for the Election Commission is credibility”. (ANI)