Key Takeaways
- The Congress party has opposed the appointment of a new Chief Election Commissioner, terming it against the spirit of the Constitution.
- The government’s decision to hastily appoint a new Chief Election Commissioner without waiting for the Supreme Court’s scrutiny has raised concerns.
- The Congress party has alleged that the government is trying to circumvent the Supreme Court’s scrutiny and appoint a new Chief Election Commissioner before a clear order kicks in.
New Delhi: The Congress on Monday termed the appointment of new Chief Election Commissioner as “against the spirit of the Constitution”.
It may be mentioned that according to a notification issued by the Ministry of Law and Justice on Monday, Gyanesh Kumar has been appointed as the 26th Chief Election Commissioner of India.
Party general secretary KC Venugopal expressed his concerns on his social media handle X:
Many have expressed doubts about the ruling regime’s intentions, fearing that it is destroying the electoral process and bending the rules for its benefit.
He said, “This goes against the spirit of our Constitution and what has been reiterated by the Supreme Court in many cases—for the electoral process to have sanctity, the CEC must be an impartial stakeholder”.
He also slammed the government for not waiting until the Supreme Court’s hearing on February 19, before selecting the CEC.
“Their decision to hastily hold the meeting today and appoint the new EC shows they are keen to circumvent the Supreme Court’s scrutiny and get the appointment done before a clear order kicks in,” he said.
“Be it fake voter lists, schedules favouring the BJP, or concerns around EVM hacking—the government and the CECs it appoints are subject to deep suspicion because of such incidents,” he alleged.
