New Delhi: The opposition INDIA bloc on Saturday staged its symbolic 'public impeachment' of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, recreating a parliamentary removal proceeding at Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge's residence, 10 Rajaji Marg, in New Delhi. Former Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar presided over the proceedings, Kharge moved the motion against the CEC, and Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi was scheduled to deliver the concluding address before the symbolic motion was put to a vote.
Source: Janpath News Network
Moving the motion, Kharge read out six charges against Kumar on behalf of the INDIA alliance. As summarised in reports of the proceeding, the charges accuse the CEC of conspiring to steal elections, deleting voters from the electoral rolls on a massive scale — Kharge alleged deletions running to crores of voters — rewriting Form 6 without Parliament's approval, shutting out the two other election commissioners from decisions, centralising control of the electoral rolls, and acting at the behest of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah. These are the opposition's allegations; the Election Commission has previously told the Supreme Court that its SIR decisions were taken unanimously.
Source: Inshorts
Kharge said the Chief Election Commissioner 'must be tried for treason in a court of law in accordance with the legal framework of the Constitution of India', and set out the bloc's demands: 'We demand CEC should be removed, SIR should be stopped and the 2023 law (on appointment of CEC) be changed.' He also invoked Article 326 and universal adult franchise, arguing that the right to vote was under severe peril.
Source: PTI via DailyWorld
'We hold no personal grudge against the CEC,' Kharge said. 'Our intention is for the Election Commission to function impartially, in line with the spirit of the Constitution, so that the common man's trust in it remains intact.' He recalled that 193 opposition MPs had moved a removal motion in both Houses of Parliament seven months ago, in March 2026, and that the notices were rejected with no cognisance taken — which, he said, is why the bloc had brought the motion before the public.
Source: 7Globe
Saturday's proceeding is the event itself, following the earlier developments reported this week: the bloc first announced the 'public impeachment' for October 30, then moved the venue to Kharge's residence after saying permission for the Ashoka Hotel had been denied, and on Friday postponed the programme by a day because of heavy rain in Delhi. Leaders who joined the bloc's preparations included Congress general secretaries Jairam Ramesh and K C Venugopal, the TMC's Derek O'Brien and Mahua Moitra, the Samajwadi Party's Yadav, Shiv Sena (UBT)'s Arvind Sawant, CPI(M)'s John Brittas, CPI's P Sandosh Kumar, RJD's Sanjay Yadav and RSP's N K Premchandran, PTI reported.
Source: PTI via Nagaland Post
The bloc itself acknowledges the proceeding is symbolic: it is not a constitutionally recognised parliamentary process, its motion carries no legal force and it cannot remove the CEC, whose removal requires a formal motion in Parliament. The opposition says it adopted the public, parliamentary-style format after its formal notices were rejected, to place its allegations — over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and alleged 'vote chori' — before the public.
Source: Janpath News Network
From the government side, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju on Saturday challenged the Congress to answer questions on elections ahead of the bloc's rally, PTI reported. The INDIA bloc's weekend programme continues on Sunday, November 1, with a public rally at Delhi's Ramlila Maidan, for which Delhi Police have already set conditions.
Source: PTI via DailyWorld