Opposition leaders target CEC Gyanesh Kumar, demand his removal over poll panel actions

Indian Youth Congress members stage a protest against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. Pic/PTI

The Congress on Wednesday dubbed CEC Gyanesh Kumar "Gyaneshgate" and alleged that all his actions had the full support of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah. Congress MP Rahul Gandhi alleged that the BJP, the RSS, and the Election Commission which organised "vote chori" have committed an act of treason. Party chief Mallikarjun Kharge also lashed out.

"On 24 April 2026, 73 opposition Rajya Sabha MPs had submitted a new Notice of Motion to the Secretary General to remove CEC Kumar," he said. Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav said governments formed during a period when the Election Commission was "not functioning impartially" were "unconstitutional", and that the "interference" with the poll panel amounted to "trampling" democracy.

Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray demanded that CEC Kumar be sacked and jailed for "murdering" democracy. AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal demanded that the entire SIR exercise be cancelled and that the CEC should immediately be arrested. Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal said. He also demanded the filing of an FIR to probe who is behind the CEC's actions.

This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever