Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi Tuesday described the appointment of Gyanesh Kumar as the chief election commissioner as “disrespectful and discourteous.”

“It is both disrespectful and discourteous for the PM and HM to have made a midnight decision to select the new CEC, when the very composition of the committee and the process is being challenged in the Supreme Court and is due to be heard in less than 48 hours,” Rahul wrote on his ‘X’ handle.

The leader of Opposition also stated that he presented a dissent note to the Prime Minister and home minister during the meeting of the committee to select the next election commissioner.

A team comprising the Prime Minister, leader of the Opposition and a cabinet minister selects the chief election commissioner of India.

In his dissent note Rahul wrote: “The most fundamental aspect of an independent Election Commission free from executive interference is the process of choosing the Election Commissioner and Chief Election Commissioner. In a judgment on March 2, 2023 the Constitutional bench of the Supreme Court ordered that the appointment of the CEC and the Election Commissioner should be undertaken by a committee comprising the Prime Minister, the leader of Opposition and the Chief Justice of India.”

He said the apex court’s order gave voice to apprehensions raised by the citizens of India.

The Rae Bareilly MP, on behalf of the Congress, demanded that the selection of the chief election commissioner be postponed until the Supreme Court hearing concludes.

“It is the view of the Congress party that the process of choosing the new CEC be deferred until the Supreme Court hearing and this meeting be postponed,” he wrote.

“Soon after the Supreme Court order the government of India notified a legislation in August 2023 that bypassed the spirit and the letter of the Supreme Court’s order. The government legislation reconstituted the committee to appoint the CEC and Election Commissioners to include the PM, the leader of Opposition and a union cabinet minister to be appointed by the PM and removing the CJI from the committee. This is in flagrant violation of the letter and spirit of the Supreme Court order,” says the dissent note.

The Congress has been demanding from the outgoing chief election commissioner the electoral rolls for the Maharashtra Lok Sabha and Assembly elections be handed over to them, because they suspect the list was manipulated and voters were added.

Ahead of the Delhi Assembly polls held earlier this month, Sanjay Raut, the Shiv Sena (UBT) MP had said floating voters had moved from Maharashtra to Delhi and would next go to Bihar, which is scheduled to go to polls later this year. Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee too had complained about manipulation in the electoral rolls ahead of next year’s Assembly polls in the state.

The chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar will be the CEC till January 26, 2029; and he had played a key role in the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir during his stint in the Union home ministry. He will be in charge of the Assembly polls in Bihar this year and Kerala, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal to be held in 2026.