By Nitya Chakraborty
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is in a big dilemma on what to do with the issue of dealing with the demand by the entire opposition for the resignation of the Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. The present situation is volatile and it has the potential of going far beyond the demand for CEC’s ouster but also include resignation of the Home Minister Amit Shah who is the real man behind the decisions on imposing virtual lock down in Delhi and suppression of peaceful protesters in the national capital zone.
Let us start with the Election Commission first. CEC Gyanesh Kumar is scheduled to retire on January 26, 2029, just two months before the process starts for the next Lok Sabha elections in April/May 2029 Out of the present two Election Commissioners, the seniormost Dr. Sukhbir Singh Sandhu will retire on July 5, 2028. The other one Dr. Vivek Joshi will retire on February 18, 2031. So at the time of the next Lok Sabha polls in April/ May 2029, only Dr. Vivek Joshi remains out of the present three member EC. The Government will have to appoint a new Election Commissioner after July 2028.
As per the present rules, the present CEC is protected by law against his any action during his tenure. The Government can not sack him. He can be impeached by Parliament, but that is not practical now due to the big majority of the BJP and its allies. The Opposition may not try the impeachment move for the second time. The only way, the Modi Government can get rid of him before the expiry of his tenure is by asking him to resign on his own. Gyanesh Kumar is a known Modi-Bhakt. He has a record of working for Modi and BJP during his tenure as secretary in Kerala Government. He can agree to PM’s request if circumstances demand so, GK who is known as task master can join BJP and be made a Minister even.
But this resignation depends on two factors. First, Supreme Court has sent notices to the EC including all three members for giving replies to their queries whether the decisions were unanimous. If the decisions were not unanimous, the apex court has the right to annul that. Now the issue is how far the Supreme Court will go in meeting the two election commissioners on one on one basis to find out the authenticity of the Indian Express story. If the Supreme Court just accepts the official reply of the EC, it will have little meaning, because the CEC will coerce the other two to issue a joint statement saying all decisions were unanimous.
Apart, the Supreme Court has to pursue vigorously the issue of modified Form 6 which the Supreme Court did not approve while the CEC claimed that he had the apex court approval. Supreme Court can certainly charge the CEC for telling lies and misrepresenting the Court’s views. The issue is will the Supreme Court go that far to take strong comments against Gyanesh Kumar about his moral and ethical failure in abiding by the laws. Supreme Court has no right to order ouster of the CEC, but certainly the Court can accuse the CEC of gross failure to abide by his constitutional duties. This means morally, Gyanesh Kumar loses his right to remain as CEC.
There is another factor against the present CEC. Kerala assembly has moved a resolution supporting the ouster of Gyanesh Kumar from his CEC position. This is the first such move by an assembly in the country. Also Kerala government has reopened an old case involving Gyanesh Kumar in which he was charged for inciting a Kerala government official to suicide during his days as secretary in Kerala government. If the case is pursued and there is adverse verdict against Gyanesh Kumar, then that can be implemented as that is outside the protection given to the CEC during his present tenure.
Now, the question comes why the Prime Minister is taking risks in protecting the CEC despite knowing the implications of all these at the legal level and supplemented by the mileage the opposition is getting due the massive response of the students, intellectuals and civil society people to the demand for ouster of the CEC and the allegations of vote chori by the EC under the CEC Gyanesh Kumar.
The reason is simple, Narendra Modi and Amit Shah need Gyanesh Kumar to act on their behalf in the EC and help the BJP win the states in the coming elections culminating in the general elections in the middle of 2029. Though Gyanesh Kumar will be retiring on January 26, 2029, but he is expected to fashion the working of EC in such a manner that the new CEC who will be joining, can do little to disturb that position even if he wants. PM can promote Dr. Vivek Joshi as CEC or a new trusted bureaucrat can be appointed as the new CEC after GK’s retirement.
For the top BJP leadership, the immediate priority is state assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh due in March 2027.BJP can not afford to lose Uttar Pradesh assembly as it did in 2024 Lok Sabha elections from UP when the party got only 33 seats as against 43 of the INDIA Bloc. Even a small help from EC officials at the instance of CEC in some selected constituencies, can bring big electoral benefits to Uttar Pradesh BJP which it badly needs.
So at the moment, the government and the top BJP leadership’s main focus is to see that process of Supreme Court’s investigations into the details of the recent EC decisions get delayed. The Solicitor General Tushar Mehta is expected to make every effort to seek new dates for Election Commission to reply. Now it all depends whether the Supreme Court will act like a lion protecting the essence of the constitution, the right to vote or through half baked observations, allow the CEC to avoid censure. That way Narendra Modi’s final decision on Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation will also depend on the final order of the Supreme Court. (IPA Service)
