NEW DELHI: The INDIA bloc will hold a three-hour “public impeachment” of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar at Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge’s official residence here at 4 pm on Friday, with former Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar presiding over the proceedings.
Kharge, LoP in the Rajya Sabha, will move the motion to impeach Kumar, while LoP in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi will conclude the discussion before the “motion” is passed by voting, sources said.
The contours of the “public impeachment” proceedings were finalised at a meeting of the INDIA bloc leaders at Kharge’s residence here on Thursday. The meeting was attended by Congress general secretaries Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Jairam Ramesh and K C Venugopal; Meira Kumar; CPM MP John Brittas, Trinamool Congress MP Derek O’Brien; Samajwadi Party’s Harendra Malik and JMM’s Mahua Maja, among others.
At least 30 speakers, including representatives of 21 political parties, are expected to participate. Sources said that an invitation has been extended to the BJD, but the party is yet to confirm its participation.
Civil society representatives and people hit by the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls will also share their accounts. The symbolic impeachment comes ahead of the Opposition’s November 1 Delhi rally against alleged “vote theft” and the SIR exercise.