Kerala Assembly passes resolution for removal of chief election commissioner
What's the story
The Kerala Legislative Assembly has passed a resolution seeking the removal of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar. Chief Minister V D Satheesan moved the resolution, citing complaints about voters being removed from electoral rolls. "The integrity of our electoral process is non-negotiable. Serious concerns over voter roll revisions, the disenfranchisement of eligible voters, and the impartiality of the Election Commission cannot be ignored," Satheesan wrote on X.
Voting rights
Resolution demands restoration of voting rights for eligible voters
He said through this resolution, Keralam has put forward three clear demands.
First, it calls for the restoration of voting rights to eligible voters who were allegedly removed from the rolls.
Second, it demanded proceedings to remove Kumar, citing questions over his impartiality.
The resolution further proposed reconstituting the Election Commissioners' selection committee, suggesting it should include India's Prime Minister, Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition, and the Chief Justice of India, as it was earlier before the 2023 Act.
Opposition
BJP MLAs oppose resolution, seek clarification on legality
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLAs opposed the resolution.
BJP's legislative party leader B B Gopakumar sought clarification on the legality of Satheesan's election and proposed dissolving the 2026 state assembly.
BJP MLA from Kazhakootam, V Muraleedharan, said, "...the rule says that the assembly shouldn't pass a resolution on a topic which is sub judice. Second, there should not be inferences; there should not be any arguments in the resolution...the BJP members were the only three members who were against this."
Resolution modification
Satheesan rejects modifications proposed by BJP leaders
Satheesan rejected the modifications proposed, calling them politically motivated.
However, he accepted a suggestion from Leader of Opposition Pinarayi Vijayan to change "lakhs of voters" to "crores of voters," as around 13 crore voters were allegedly deleted from electoral rolls.
The modified resolution was passed in the House by a show of hands.