NEW DELHI: Stepping up the attack on Election Commission the opposition has submitted notices seeking motion for removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar to presiding officers in both Houses of Parliament. This is the first time a notice has been given seeking removal of the CEC. The notices have been signed by 130 Lok Sabha MPs and 63 Rajya Sabha MPs.

According to rules, at least 100 MPs must sign a notice seeking the removal of the CEC in Lok Sabha, and the required strength in the Rajya Sabha is 50.An Opposition leader shared that even as the requisite numbers had already been reached, opposition MPs kept coming till Thursday afternoon to sign the notice. By around 1.30 pm, as many as 130 signatures had been received from members of opposition parties in Lok Sabha and 63 signatures from those in Rajya Sabha. According to sources, all INDIA bloc parties have signed the notice. Besides this, MPs from AAP, which is not part of the INDIA bloc, have also signed the notice.

The 10-page-long notice carries a chargesheet on seven counts. According to sources, these charges range from partisan conduct of CEC to mass disenfranchisement of voters The opposition has also raised the issue of the way CEC handled SIR in previous elections like Bihar and forthcoming elections in states like West Bengal; his “proved misbehaviour”; his partial conduct towards a political party are also issues that find a mention in the notice.The notice for removal of CEC piloted by TMC follows growing accusations from opposition parties against Gyanesh Kumar. They have accused the CEC of bias and carrying out the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise in an arbitrary manner in a bid to aid the BJP. West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee has been leading protests over the SIR process in her state. Other opposition parties too have been attacking the CEC, with Rahul Gandhi steering the “vote chori” campaign.The process for removing the CEC is similar to that for removal of a Supreme Court judge, and the incumbent can be removed only on “grounds of proven misbehaviour or incapacity”.The fact that the BJP alliance has a majority in both houses makes the move a non-starter, but it allows the Opposition to register its joint protest against the CEC.