‘Midnight coup’ to name new CEC disrespect of Supreme Court: Rahul Gandhi

The morning after the Modi government unilaterally appointed Gyanesh Kumar as the chief election commissioner (CEC) of India, on 18 February, Rahul Gandhi — who is Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha — publicly expressed his dissent, calling the move a blatant disregard of the Supreme Court’s directives and a threat to electoral integrity.

Per Supreme Court's judgement in Anoop Baranwal vs Union of India, all election commissioners were supposed to be appointed by committee — a committee made up of the prime minister, the leader of the opposition and the chief justice of India (CJI).

The court’s logic was simple: The Election Commission is meant to be an independent body and not an organ of the government; therefore, the selection of its commissioners should not be solely determined by the Executive.

However, the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners Act, 2023, changed this up to replace the CJI with an union minister — in other words, this becomes a committee solely of the executive of the nation, with no impartial third party.

This is something Opposition parties in particular have been vociferous against, for it allows an easy 2–1 vote by the ruling party for any given appointee.

As such, despite participating in the selection committee meeting, Gandhi made his opposition clear and submitted a dissent note, which was formally recorded in the meeting minutes.

The Congress held a presser after the meeting and asked the Modi government to halt the selection process, citing the matter’s pending status in the Supreme Court.

The Modi government, however, announced the appointment by midnight.

The new CEC is Gyanesh Kumar — widely perceived to be a bureaucrat ‘trusted’ by home minister Amit Shah. Allegations that he was handpicked to serve the ruling party’s interests therefore abound.

Rahul Gandhi, making his dissent public, lashed out at prime minister Narendra Modi and home minister Amit Shah for what he termed a ‘disrespectful’ and ‘discourteous’ midnight appointment.

‘During the meeting of the committee to select the next Election Commissioner, I presented a dissent note to the PM and HM,’ Gandhi wrote in a post on X.

Gandhi also accused the Modi government of ignoring the Supreme Court’s 2 March 2023 judgement, characterising the BJP government’s legislative manoeuvring to restructure of the selection committee as a “flagrant violation” of the Supreme Court's directive.

‘By violating the Supreme Court order and removing the Chief Justice of India from the committee, the Modi government has exacerbated the concerns of hundreds of millions of voters over the integrity of our electoral process,’ he wrote.

The Congress has long accused the BJP government of systematically eroding democratic institutions, with Gandhi’s statement reinforcing concerns over the Election Commission’s independence.

The party has now demanded immediate judicial intervention to prevent what it calls the government's latest attempt to ‘capture’ constitutional bodies.

With the Supreme Court’s verdict on the matter just days away, the controversy over Kumar’s appointment is expected to escalate, fuelling opposition protests and intensifying the ongoing political battle.