Rahul Gandhi presents dissent note on CEC appointment, says ‘disrespectful, discourteous’ for PM Modi, Amit Shah to…

Rahul Gandhi, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, “presented a dissent note during the meeting to select the next Chief Election Commissioner,” the Congress said in a post on X on Tuesday. The party said Gandhi’s dissent note was in response to the Prime Minister-led panel’s decision to finalise the name of the next Chief Election Commissioner.

The Congress alleged that the decision was made despite the party’s objections.

On February 17, the government appointed Gyanesh Kumar as the new Chief Election Commissioner. The Lok Sabha LoP, who is part of the committee led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi submitted his dissent note, terming the selection process as both “disrespectful and discourteous.”

What did the Congress object to?

The Congress has heavily objected to the process of the appointment of the Chief Election Commissioner and Election Commissioners.

Rahul Gandhi’s dissent note stated that soon after the Supreme Court order, the Government of India had notified a legislation in August 2023 that “bypassed the spirit and the letter of the Supreme Court’s order”.

Further explaining the matter, Rahul Gandhi said, “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 government order was subsequently challenged by a public interest litigant. The Supreme Court has indicated its intention to take up this matter on 19th February 2025, less than forty-eight hours away,” Rahul Gandhi said.

The Congress had earlier urged the government to postpone the selection meeting, as there is a case in the Supreme Court regarding the appointment of the previous CEC.

“The Congress party has argued that the selection process should be postponed until the Supreme Court decides on the petitions challenging the new appointment process,” the Congress wrote on X.

Rahul Gandhi targets PM Modi, Amit Shah

Rahul Gandhi criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi government’s decision to exclude the Chief Justice of India from the selection committee.

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

“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,” Rahul Gandhi said.

He added, “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.”

BJP reacts: “Malicious judicial activism’

The BJP dismissed Rahul Gandhi’s criticism of the appointment of the chief election commissioner and an election commissioner as “politically motivated” and accused him of undermining an elected government’s constitutional mandate through “malicious” judicial activism.

BJP’s IT department head Amit Malviya said, “It is an attempt to undermine the constitutional mandate of the elected government through malicious judicial activism. Additionally, it conveniently misreads and misinterprets the Supreme Court’s judgment on the CEC’s appointment.”

He noted that a five-judge Constitution bench had revised the process for appointing members of the Election Commission of India (ECI) in 2023, ruling that the President should appoint the CEC and election commissioners based on the recommendation of a committee comprising the PM, LoP in Lok Sabha and the Chief Justice of India.

However, the court clarified that this arrangement would remain in place only until Parliament enacted a law establishing a permanent mechanism, Malviya said.