Keralam Assembly Seeks Removal of Election Chief

The Keralam Legislative Assembly passed a resolution on October 12 seeking the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, urging action over alleged irregularities in voter-list revisions and calling for changes to the commission’s appointment panel. Three BJP members opposed the resolution. Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan moved the measure. It asks the Election Commission and the central government to take steps to remove Kumar, while also urging the restoration of voting rights for eligible citizens whose names were allegedly excluded during the Special Intensive Revision, or SIR, of electoral rolls. The resolution’s claims about the revision process and the Election Commission’s conduct are allegations made in the measure; the reports do not independently establish them. It raised concerns that eligible voters had been removed without clear criteria or prior notice and said the process could affect marginalized communities, minorities, migrant workers and young voters. The Assembly also called for reconstituting the committee that selects the Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners.