New Delhi:

Gyanesh Kumar assumed charge Wednesday morning as the new Chief Election Commissioner.

Mr Kumar replaces Rajiv Kumar in the role and will oversee the conduct of nearly two-dozen elections, state and presidential, over the course of his four-year term. The new CEC is an ex-IAS officer from the Kerala cadre, and earlier served in the Home Ministry, under current Home Minister Amit Shah. Among his key responsibilities were the drafting of a bill that scrapped Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir.

In his first remarks after taking charge, Mr Kumar said, “The first step for nation-building is voting. Therefore, every citizen of India who has completed 18 years of age should become an elector and should always vote. The Election Commission was, is, and will always be with the voters.”

Mr Kumar’s appointment – the notification was issued late last night – was made amid controversy after Rahul Gandhi and the Congress objected to his nomination.

Mr Gandhi is part of a three-member panel that was tasked with picking the new CEC, but the Congress leader submitted a dissent note instead, objecting to Gyanesh Kumar’s nomination despite a challenge – to the constitution of the panel – that is pending in the Supreme Court.

READ | Gyanesh Kumar Appointed New Chief Election Commissioner

The top court will hear those arguments later today.

In essence, the contention is the committee – which at present consists of the Prime Minister, a member of the union cabinet (to be nominated by the PM), and the Leader of the Opposition – is biased towards the ruling party, and impinges on the Election Commission’s neutrality.

NDTV Explains | Why Gyanesh Kumar’s Pick As Poll Chief Sparked Row

On Tuesday Mr Gandhi posted a sharp attack on X, in which he slammed the centre’s “midnight decision” to appoint Gyanesh Kumar as the next CEC, calling his nomination a ‘violation of the Supreme Court order (by) removing the Chief Justice of India from the selection committee”.

READ | “Midnight Decision Disrespectful”: Rahul Gandhi Note On Poll Chief Selection

“During the meeting of the committee to select the next (Chief) 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,” Mr Gandhi had said.

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,” Mr Gandhi said on X.

READ | All About Gyanesh Kumar, New Chief Election Commissioner

The reference was to an earlier order by the Supreme Court that said the PM, the LoP and the Chief Justice of India should be on the selection committee. To circumvent that ruling the central government later rushed through a bill to replace the Chief Justice.

Meanwhile, the Election Commission has announced that Dr Vivek Joshi took office this morning as the new third member of the panel. Dr Joshi is a 1989-batch IAS officer from the Haryana cadre.

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New Delhi:

Congress MP Rahul Gandhi has slammed the centre’s ‘midnight decision’ to appoint Gyanesh Kumar as the next Chief Election Commissioner, calling his nomination a ‘violation of the Supreme Court order (by) removing the Chief Justice of India from the selection committee”.

Mr Gandhi, part of that three-member panel, as are Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah, had last night objected to picking a new CEC at this time, pointing out a challenge to the law governing his/her selection is to be heard by the Supreme Court this week.

The Congress leader had shared a dissent note, which he posted on X today.

However, sources later told NDTV the centre planned to press on regardless, since halting the process would mean leaving the key post vacant. Hours later Mr Kumar was named as the new CEC, replacing Rajiv Kumar. And, this morning Mr Gandhi went on the warpath.

“During the meeting of the committee to select the next (Chief) 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.”

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,” Mr Gandhi said on X.

“As the LoP (Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha), it is my duty to uphold the ideals of Babasaheb Ambedkar and the founding leaders of our nation and hold the government to account.”

READ | “Can’t Operate In Ego”: Congress On Meet To Select New Poll Body Chief

“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 row over the appointment of the next CEC stems from a controversial change in the law, which now says he/she will be selected by a panel consisting of the PM, a cabinet minister (in this case, the HM) and the Leader of the Opposition. Critics argue this gives the centre an edge in selecting the individual who will oversee conduct of nearly two dozen state elections over the next four years.

READ | Gyanesh Kumar Appointed New Chief Election Commissioner

This edge, critics, including the opposition parties, have argued and will argue before the Supreme Court this week, robs the CEC selection panel of even the appearance of neutrality.

This contentious new law was pushed through by the government in 2023 after the Supreme Court ruled the selection committee should consist of the PM, the LoP, and the Chief Justice.

The top court is expected to hear this case on February 22.

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New Delhi:

The controversial bill for the appointment of top election officers was not included in the list of eight bills given to the opposition by the government in the all-party meeting on Sunday, sources said. The meeting was held on the eve of the five-day special session of the parliament. 

Sources in the government said they are considering amending the bill — the Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Bill. 

There is opposition to the bill as it strips the Chief Election Commissioner and other election commissioners of the status of Supreme Court judges. It proposes that the salary, allowance, and service conditions of the CEC and other ECs will be the same as that of the Cabinet Secretary, which was also opposed by the opposition in the all-party meeting yesterday.

The bill also seeks to replace the Chief Justice of India from a panel to advise the President regarding the appointments of the election commissioners with a member of the Cabinet, who will be nominated by the Prime Minister. This is in contrast to a Supreme Court judgment of March which said the panel should comprise the Prime Minister, the leader of opposition in Lok Sabha, and the Chief Justice of India.

This provision, too, was strongly opposed by opposition parties, which alleged it would influence the fairness of elections. Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal has accused PM Modi of not following the Supreme Court order and said this is a “very dangerous situation”.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi, while speaking to the media after the all-party meeting, did not mention the bill.

When asked whether the CEC and EC bill will be brought for discussion and passing, he gave an evasive response. “What I have to say, I have said,” he told reporters.

At the meeting, several political parties, including from the ruling NDA and the opposition INDIA bloc, made a strong pitch for the passage of the women’s reservation bill during the five-day session beginning Monday.

A special discussion on Parliament’s journey of 75 years starting from the Samvidhan Sabha is listed for today.