AAP, DMK Agree To Back Notice Seeking CEC Gyanesh Kumar's Removal

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), which have distanced themselves from the INDIA bloc, are learnt to have agreed to support an opposition notice seeking the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. The proposed move comes amid heightened opposition coordination over the functioning of the Election Commission and the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

According to sources, both parties have agreed to sign the notice being prepared to move a motion for Kumar's removal in Parliament. Opposition leaders have been holding discussions to secure wider support for the proposal, with CPI(M) general secretary M A Baby meeting AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday. TMC's Derek O'Brien also met AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh on Tuesday, while DMK leader Kanimozhi had met TMC chief Mamata Banerjee in Kolkata on September 17.

AAP formally left the INDIA bloc in July 2025 after its relationship with the Congress deteriorated over electoral contests in Delhi and Punjab. The two parties had contested the 2024 Lok Sabha elections together in Delhi, Haryana and Gujarat but remained rivals in Punjab. Their differences subsequently continued through the 2024 Haryana Assembly elections and the 2025 Delhi Assembly elections.

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The DMK's relationship with the Congress also deteriorated following the 2026 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections. After the Congress extended support to actor-politician Vijay's Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam, the DMK described the move as a betrayal and stayed away from an INDIA bloc meeting in June. DMK leaders have maintained that the party remains part of the opposition but is no longer part of the Congress-led alliance.

Despite their distance from the bloc, AAP and DMK have continued to coordinate with opposition parties on specific issues, particularly those concerning the Election Commission and the SIR exercise. Both parties had also signed a June 28 letter to the Chief Justice of India raising concerns about the functioning of the poll panel and the electoral roll revision process. Opposition parties are now preparing another notice for both Houses of Parliament, which will be legally vetted before submission.

This would be the opposition's third attempt to initiate a removal motion against Kumar. Notices submitted in both Houses in March were rejected by the respective Chairs, while another notice submitted in the Rajya Sabha in April contained nine grounds seeking his removal. The latest mobilisation followed a report alleging that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had raised objections on multiple occasions concerning decisions and procedures related to the SIR and other matters. The Election Commission subsequently maintained that its decisions, including those concerning the SIR, were unanimous and that differing views formed part of institutional deliberations.

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