Election Commission or Election Omission? Congress expresses concern after poll body official quits

In a post on X, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said, "Election Commission or Election OMISSION? India now has only one Election Commissioner, even as Lok Sabha elections are to be announced in a few days. Why? As I have said earlier, if we do not stop the systematic decimation of our independent institutions, our democracy shall be usurped by dictatorship."

The ECI will now be among the last Constitutional institutions to fall, Mr Kharge claimed.

"Since the new process of selecting the Election Commissioners has now effectively given all the power to the ruling party and the PM, why has the new Election Commissioner not appointed even after 23 days of the completion of latter's tenure? Modi government must answer these questions and come out with a reasonable explanation," the Congress president said.

In a surprising decision, just ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, Election Commissioner Arun Goel quit the poll body, and President Droupadi Murmu accepted his resignation.

With this exit, the three-member Election Commission of India, which already had one vacancy, will now be reduced to only Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar.

With the Lok Sabha election dates likely to be announced soon, Goel's resignation may impact the schedule.