Rahul Gandhi makes public dissent note submitted at CEC selection panel meet
Gyanesh Kumar, a Kerala cadre officer who retired as the Union cooperation ministry secretary before being appointed as an election commissioner last year, was appointed as the CEC
Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi called it disrespectful and discourteous to the institutions and the country’s founding if the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led selection committee continued with choosing the next chief election commissioner (CEC) when the panel’s composition and the process were challenged and to be heard in the Supreme Court.
In his dissent note that Gandhi made public on Tuesday, he said a hearing was scheduled in the court on Wednesday for the pleas against the law passed in 2023 for the selection of CEC and the election commissioners (ECs). “The Supreme Court has indicated its intention to take up this matter on 19th February 2025, less than forty-eight hours away,” said Gandhi. He said the process of choosing the next CEC be deferred until the Supreme Court hearing.
Gyanesh Kumar, a Kerala cadre officer from the 1988 batch who retired as the Union cooperation ministry secretary before being appointed as an election commissioner last year, was appointed as the CEC late on Monday. The appointment came hours after the Prime Minister-led selection committee proposed his name.
Kumar is the first CEC to be appointed under the new 2023 law. Bureaucrat Vivek Joshi was appointed as an election commissioner.
Gandhi, who attended the selection panel meeting at the Prime Minister’s office along with Union home minister Amit Shah, submitted the dissent prepared with the help of the Congress’s legal team.
In March 2023, the Supreme Court directed the inclusion of the Chief Justice of India (CJI) in the selection panel until Parliament came up with a new law. The verdict came in the absence of a specific law to appoint the CEC and ECs.
The judgment in Anoop Baranwal Vs Union of India on March 2, 2023, said a Prime Minister-led panel comprising LoP in Lok Sabha and the CJI should select CEC and ECs to ensure transparency in the selection mechanism.
The government brought the Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Act later that year changing the composition of the selection committee.
In his note, Gandhi referred to Bhimrao Ambedkar’s June 1949 speech in the Constituent Assembly and said the head of the Constitution’s drafting committee warned about executive interference in India’s democracy and the affairs of the Election Commission. He said the most fundamental aspect of an independent Election Commission is that the process of choosing the commissioners and the CEC is free from executive interference.
Gandhi referred to the March 2023 Supreme Court judgement and maintained it reflected the larger concerns among hundreds of millions of voters over the integrity of the electoral process. “This is also reflected in public surveys that show a continuing decline in trust of voters in India’s election process and its institutions.”
He said unfortunately the government notified a legislation after the Supreme Court order in August 2023 bypassing its letter and spirit. “The government legislation reconstituted the committee to appoint the CEC and Election Commissioners to include the Prime Minister, Leader of Opposition, and a Union Cabinet Minister to be appointed by the Prime Minister and removing the Chief Justice from the committee. This is in flagrant violation of the letter and spirit of the Supreme Court order,” Gandhi said.
In a tweet, Gandhi maintained the Modi government exacerbated the concerns of hundreds of millions of voters over the integrity of the electoral process by violating the Supreme Court order and removing the CJI from the committee. He added it was his duty to uphold the ideals of Ambedkar and the founding leaders of the nation and hold the government to account as the LoP.
Gandhi said it was disrespectful and discourteous for the Prime Minister and Union home minister to have made a midnight decision to select the new CEC.
Monday’s meeting was the first of the selection panel after Gandhi became the LoP in 2024. Mallikarjun Kharge, the LoP in Rajya Sabha, and Gandhi gave dissent notes at the meeting to select the National Human Rights Commission chairman in December.
Union minister Dharmendra Pradahan dubbed Gandhi’s dissent note and public comments as an attempt to create a controversy.
“Congress Party crushed the Constitution at their convenience to serve their political interests. Congress never left an opportunity to ridicule and insult Baba Saheb Ambedkar, yet the Yuvraj of Congress has the audacity to take a grandstand on upholding Baba Saheb’s ideals and that of our founding leaders. This latest jig by @RahulGandhi is another attempt to create controversy and peddle propaganda on the appointment of CEC,” Pradhan said in a post on X.
“Has Rahul Gandhi forgotten how ECs were appointed during Congress rule? Despite being in power for decades why did Congress govt’s did nothing to reform the selection mechanism? As a matter of fact, this is the first time that CEC has been appointed by a law passed in the Parliament. It is our govt. that has created a joint system for the appointment of CEC and EC, which includes the LoP. It is a great misfortune that Rahul Gandhi and Congress Party are acting like cry babies even when no rule/law is broken,” Pradhan said.