Oppn will take collective call: Cong on CEC’s impeachment

New Delhi: Opposition will take a collective call on moving an impeachment motion against chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, Congress's KC Venugopal said on Wednesday, a day after Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee called for such a move. Never has such a motion been tabled against a CEC.Banerjee, who has taken her fight against SIR to New Delhi, on Tuesday called for the impeachment of the CEC and sought to rally support from other opposition parties on the issue. On Wednesday, party national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee told reporters, "I cannot disclose everything. Internal strategies cannot be made public. When the time comes, we will see what happens."
Talking to mediapersons in Parliament House complex, Venugopal said they were "positively" looking at the suggestion. Asked about the Trinamool chief's call to move an impeachment motion against CEC Kumar, Venugopal, Congress general secretary in charge of communications, said, "Trinamool Congress already contacted the Congress... I think the entire Opposition will take a call on the matter, which is one of the most relevant issues raised by Trinamool. We are positively looking at it."Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, however, refused to comment on the matter.Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, meanwhile, has extended support to Mamata Banerjee in her fight against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. Yadav on Wednesday said: "Mamata Banerjee has donned a black coat against the black deeds of the BJP.""People must come forward. Losing your vote is losing your right. Everything will be lost one by one... Your citizenship would be questioned. We are with her," he added.Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi stressed that transparency should be maintained by the EC. "The way BJP is misusing the SIR and using the Election Commission to violate voters' rights by deleting their names on a large scale is deeply concerning. Mamataji is fighting this battle because, in Bengal, a large number of voters who traditionally vote for her have been allegedly removed," she said. "She took this matter to the Supreme Court, and I welcome the step. On the impeachment motion, if the Election Commission, an institution expected to uphold institutional morality, follows someone's agenda, it is completely wrong," Chaturvedi added."I hope that the Supreme Court, which is a constitutional provision and part of the legal process available to political parties, takes cognisance of this matter so that the credibility of the Election Commission does not collapse. The transparency of the poll panel must be maintained, and voters' rights must be protected. I believe she will achieve victory in this fight," the MP added.The process for impeaching the CEC is similar to that of a Supreme Court judge. The removal can take place only on the grounds of proven misbehaviour or incapacity. It requires 100 MPs to table the resolution, and such motions need to be passed by two-thirds majority.