NEW DELHI: The Congress party on Monday said a meeting called by the central government to elect the next Election Commission chief should have been deferred until the final verdict by the Supreme Court on the formation of a selection panel.
“Today, a meeting related to the election of the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) was held. The Congress party believes that since the Supreme Court had said that the matter would be heard on February 19 and a decision would be given on what the constitution of the committee should be like. In such a situation, today’s meeting should have been postponed,” Congress party said.
Congress MP Abhishek Manu Singhvi said that by trying to keep the Chief Justice of India (CJI) out of the panel the government made it clear wanted only control over the Election Commission but not credibility.
“Removing or trying to keep the Chief Justice out of the appointment (of CEC) process as an independent entity, the govt has made it clear, they want only control but not credibility. The most important thing for the Election Commission is credibility,” Singhvi said.
Congress’s statement came after party leader Rahul Gandhi left the South Block after attending a meeting for the appointment of the next Chief Election Commissioner. The meeting was also attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union law minister Arjun Ram Meghwal.
The rules have been changed. The Election Commissioner used to be chosen by the Prime Minister, the leader of the opposition and the Chief Justice. The Chief Justice was removed from that committee. This is a question to the Prime Minister, why was the Chief Justice removed from the committee?” Rahul Gandhi asked in the Parliament a few days ago.
The Congress leader was referring to the exclusion of the CJI from the Commissioner and other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Act, 2023.
The current CEC, Rajiv Kumar, is set to retire on February 18. After Rajiv Kumar’s departure, Gyanesh Kumar will become the senior-most Election Commissioner (EC), as his tenure extends till January 26, 2029.
