Hasty midnight move, CEC must be an impartial stakeholder: K C Venugopal on Gyanesh's appointment

New Delhi: Opposition on Tuesday found fault with the "hasty midnight move" to appoint a new Chief Election Commissioner with the Congress claiming that it goes against the spirit of Constitution and the government should have waited for the Supreme Court to decide on the validity of the mechanism of appointments in the poll body.

Late on Thursday night, President Droupadi Murmu appointed Gyanesh Kumar as the new CEC succeeding Rajiv Kumar, who is demitting office on Tuesday, besides choosing Haryana Chief Secretary Vivek Joshi as Election Commissioner after a Selection Committee headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi recommended their names despite Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi raised objections over the process.

“In a hasty midnight move, the government has notified the appointment…This goes against the spirit of our Constitution, and what has been reiterated by the Supreme Court in many cases. For the electoral process to have sanctity, the CEC must be an impartial stakeholder,” Congress General Secretary (Organisation) K C Venugopal said.

He said the law on CEC and EC appointments removed the Chief Justice of India from the selection panel.

“The government could have waited until the Supreme Court’s hearing on February 19 before selecting the CEC. Their decision to hastily hold the meeting today and appoint the new EC shows they are keen to circumvent the Supreme Court’s scrutiny and get the appointment done before a clear order kicks in,” Venugopal said.

He said “such egregious behaviour only confirms the doubts” that many have expressed about how the ruling regime is “destroying the electoral process and bending the rules” for its benefit.

"Be it fake voter lists, schedules favouring the BJP, or concerns around EVM hacking—the government and the CECs it appoints are subject to deep suspicion because of such incidents. As the LoP rightly pointed out, this decision should have been kept aside until the Supreme Court decides the issue in line with the Constitution," he said.

Congress Lok Sabha Whip Manickam Tagore said the government's "hasty midnight appointment" of the new CEC "undermines the spirit" of the Constitution and free elections.

"As LoP Rahul Gandhi rightly said, this should have waited for the SC hearing on February 19. Rushing it shows their intent to bypass scrutiny. Democracy deserves better," he said.