INDIA Bloc Meets Today to Plan Anti-SIR Agitation, Seek CEC Gyanesh Kumar's Removal

Top leaders of the INDIA bloc are scheduled to meet in New Delhi on Wednesday to discuss a coordinated response to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise and a fresh move seeking the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. The meeting is expected to begin at 11 am and comes amid Opposition concerns over the Election Commission's handling of the voter-roll revision process. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi, Jairam Ramesh, KC Venugopal, Trinamool Congress leaders Mamata Banerjee and Abhishek Banerjee, and representatives of several other parties are expected to participate.

A key issue before the meeting is a proposed fresh motion in Parliament seeking Kumar's removal. According to sources cited by PTI, a draft notice for motions in both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha has been prepared and is expected to be discussed by the participating parties. The move follows renewed Opposition criticism of the Election Commission amid reports of differences within the poll panel over aspects of the SIR exercise. The meeting also comes a day after a Congress Working Committee meeting at which Kharge called for Kumar's resignation.

The SIR controversy has intensified following a report that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had raised objections on multiple occasions to decisions related to the exercise. The Election Commission has rejected any suggestion that such differences undermine its functioning, saying that differing views and observations are a normal part of institutional deliberations. The poll panel has also maintained that its orders have legal sanction and have been issued in accordance with established statutory procedures. Opposition parties, however, are seeking to coordinate their response to the exercise and related concerns.

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Not all parties associated with the Opposition will attend Wednesday's meeting. The Aam Aadmi Party and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam have said they will stay away, while Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav is expected to miss the gathering because of commitments related to Rajya Sabha election nominations in Uttar Pradesh. The Samajwadi Party is expected to send representatives instead. Congress general secretary KC Venugopal said the party wants to coordinate a larger agitation with other Opposition parties and that suggestions made during the meeting would help determine the next course of action.

The DMK has separately indicated that it will support a parliamentary removal motion against Kumar despite not attending the INDIA bloc meeting. Party spokesperson TKS Elangovan said the DMK and other Opposition parties remain aligned on the issue in Parliament, while stressing that the party's support should not be interpreted as continued membership of the INDIA bloc. The DMK left the alliance after Congress ended its long-standing arrangement with the party and aligned with Vijay's Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam following the Tamil Nadu Assembly election earlier this year.

Wednesday's meeting will be the INDIA bloc's first major gathering in nearly four months, following its previous meeting on June 8. The current discussions are focused primarily on the SIR exercise, the Election Commission and the proposed parliamentary proceedings concerning the Chief Election Commissioner. The participating parties will also have to determine how they coordinate their parliamentary and public actions while dealing with differences in alliance participation. Any removal motion would require the prescribed parliamentary process, meaning the meeting itself would not result in an immediate change to the Election Commission's leadership.

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