The government was criticized by the Congress on Tuesday, February 18, 2025, for “hurriedly” selecting the new Chief Election Commissioner, claiming that this goes against the spirit of the Constitution and free elections.
Following the government’s appointment of Gyanesh Kumar as CEC, Congress leader Manickam Tagore stated that democracy deserved better. “The Government’s hasty midnight appointment of the new CEC undermines the spirit of our Constitution and free elections. As LoP Rahul Gandhi rightly said, this should’ve waited for the SC hearing on February19,” Mr. Tagore said on X. “Rushing it shows their intent to bypass scrutiny. Democracy deserves better,” he added.
On Monday, February 18, 2025, Mr. Kumar was named the new Chief Election Commissioner. Under a new statute pertaining to the selection of Election Commission (EC) members, he is the first CEC to be appointed. His tenure would end on January 26, 2029, just a few days before the EC is anticipated to reveal the date of the upcoming Lok Sabha election.
The government is eager to avoid the Supreme Court’s scrutiny and complete the appointment before a clear order takes effect, according to Congress General Secretary K C Venugopal, who made the comment shortly after the nomination.
The Chief Justice of India (CJI) was eliminated from the CEC selection panel by the modified statute pertaining to the appointment of election commissioners, he said, and the government should have waited until the top court’s hearing on the case on Wednesday, February 19, before choosing the officer.
The process of choosing the Election Commissioner and Chief Election Commissioner is the most essential component of an independent Election Commission free from executive interference, according to a dissenting note presented by LoP Rahul Gandhi to the Prime Minister and Home Minister during the committee meeting to choose the next Election Commissioner.
Mr. Gandhi remarked that the PM and HM’s decision to choose the new CEC at midnight, while the committee’s makeup and procedure are being contested in the Supreme Court and are scheduled to be heard in less than 48 hours, is impolite and disrespectful.
The Congress claimed during a news conference following the meeting that the new law that established the committee established a “partisan” and “non-neutral” process for choosing Election Commissioners. The party requested that the government seek an early hearing and expedite the court’s resolution of the case.
The Supreme Court’s March 2, 2023, ruling in Anoop Baranwal v. Union of India, in which a Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court ruled that the CEC and ECs should be chosen by a committee made up of the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition (LoP), and the Chief Justice of India (CJI), is something that we cannot overlook at first glance. Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi stated as much.
