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Four questions swirl around Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar’s departure as the political climate around the pillar of India’s democracy, that body tasked with the conduct of free and fair elections, comes under sharp scrutiny.

Gyanesh Kumar has been given an ultimatum by the Cockroach Janta Party to quit “in 48 hours”, else they would launch a nationwide movement. Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, has suggested that he “turns approver.”

For now, Kumar has called off two public engagements in Uttar Pradesh including one meeting with Gen Z in Varanasi.

The next in line is Dr Sukhbir Singh Sandhu, who should be appointed by the President of India and take charge as per the law and precedent. A third Election Commissioner would need to be appointed. But Gyanesh Kumar’s term ends just before he turns 65, which is January 26, 2029, when he would need to go anyway. That process would just kick in sooner. 

The law provides for a civil servant, but only a person who is or has been at a rank equivalent to Secretary to the government will be eligible to be the CEC or EC. 

Executive overreach has had its moments in the past 12 years and for the first time in independent India’s history, we have had sudden resignations of election commissioners. Election Commissioner Ashok Lavasa, who would have gone on to be the CEC, quit, after repeated run-ins with his colleagues refusing the treat Narendra Modi and Adityanath as candidates and regular politicians and not wanting to issue notices for serious violations of the model code of conduct. The Pegasus spyware investigation had revealed that his phone was also under surveillance. Later, Election........

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