Rahul Gandhi expresses dissent over Chief Election Commissioner’s appointment; ‘disrespectful, discourteous’

Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi, on Tuesday (Feb 18), strongly criticised the appointment of Gyanesh Kumar as the new Chief Election Commissioner (CEC), citing concerns over the integrity of India's electoral process. 

Gandhi expressed his dissent over the exclusion of the Chief Justice of India from the selection committee, calling it a violation of a Supreme Court order.

He said that the Indian government has "exacerbated the concerns of hundreds of millions of voters over the integrity of our electoral process," by violating the order of the Supreme Court and "removing" the Chief Justice from the selection committee.

The Congress leader took to his official X handle and, in a post, expressed his dissent over the selection, calling the process "disrespectful and discourteous."

"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," he wrote.

He further said that it was his duty to uphold the ideals of Babasaheb Ambedkar and hold the government to account.

"As the LoP it is my duty to uphold the ideals of Babasaheb Ambedkar and the founding leaders of our nation and hold the government to account. 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," Gandhi's dissent note read.

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

Gyanesh Kumar succeeds CEC Rajiv Kumar, who will be demitting the office on Tuesday (Feb 18).

A notification issued by the Indian Ministry of Law and Justice announced that President Droupadi Murmu was pleased to appoint Gyanesh Kumar, Election Commissioner, as Chief Election Commissioner in the Election Commission of India, with effect from February 19, 2025.

He is the first CEC to be appointed under the Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Act, 2023, a new law on the appointment of the members of the Election Commission (EC).

The Congress had raised objections on the process, stating that the government must postpone the selection meeting, as there was a case in the Supreme Court regarding the appointment of the previous CEC.

The grand old party said on Monday (Feb 17) that the new process "creates a partisan and non-neutral mechanism for the selection of Election Commissioners".