'Disrespectful': Rahul slams Modi, Shah for 'midnight' move to pick CEC; BJP hits back

'Hastily-taken decision exacerbated the concerns of hundreds of millions of voters'

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Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi said on Tuesday that the hasty "midnight decision" of the Prime Minister and the Home Minister to appoint the new Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) was "disrespectful" and "discourteous".

Sharing his dissent note on X, Gandhi, who was part of the three-member panel to choose the next poll body chief, slammed the Centre for removing the Chief Justice of India from the selection committee in violation of the Supreme Court order.

In his dissent note, the Congress leader said the hastily-taken decision exacerbated the concerns of hundreds of millions of voters over the "integrity of our electoral process".

"It is both disrespectful and discourteous for the Prime Minister and Home Minister 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 forty-eight hours," Gandhi said.

Gandhi said as the Leader of Opposition, it is his duty to uphold the ideals of Babasaheb Ambedkar and the founding leaders of the nation and hold the government to account.

In his dissent note, Gandhi cited the speech of B R Ambedkar while speaking in the Constituent Assembly in June 1949 to discuss the setting up of an independent Election Commission, where he had warned about executive interference in India's democracy and the affairs of the Election Commission.

Gandhi said in a judgment on March 2, 2023, the Constitutional Bench of the Supreme Court ordered the appointment of the CEC and election commissioners should be undertaken by a committee comprising the prime minister, Leader of Opposition and Chief Justice of India.