India
oi-Ashish Rana
AAP and DMK are set to support the opposition’s latest initiative seeking the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, with both parties agreeing to back the notice in Parliament, sources said.
AAP and DMK will back the opposition’s upcoming notice in Parliament seeking Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar’s removal, marking the third such attempt despite both parties having distanced themselves from the INDIA bloc.
The two parties have distanced themselves from the INDIA bloc but have continued to coordinate with other opposition parties on specific issues, including matters concerning the Election Commission and the SIR exercise.
CPI(M) general secretary M A Baby met Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday, followed by a meeting between TMC’s Derek O’Brien and AAP MP Sanjay Singh on Tuesday morning.
DMK leader Kanimozhi had also met Mamata Banerjee in Kolkata on September 17 as opposition leaders continued discussions on the proposed move.
Why AAP And DMK Distanced From INDIA Bloc
AAP formally walked out of the INDIA bloc in July 2025, after its ties with the Congress had deteriorated over electoral contests in Delhi and Punjab.
The two parties had fought the 2024 Lok Sabha elections together in Delhi, Haryana and Gujarat, but continued to be rivals in Punjab.
Their differences deepened after they fought separately in the 2024 Haryana Assembly polls and the 2025 Delhi Assembly elections.
The DMK’s ties with the Congress broke down after the 2026 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections, when the Congress extended support to actor-politician Vijay’s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) after the election.
The DMK described the move as a betrayal and subsequently stayed away from the INDIA bloc meeting in June.
DMK leaders have said the party remains part of the opposition but is no longer part of the Congress-led INDIA bloc.
Opposition Coordination Over EC, SIR
Despite distancing themselves from the bloc, both AAP and DMK have continued to coordinate with opposition parties on specific issues, particularly the Election Commission and SIR.
Both had signed a June 28 letter to the Chief Justice of India raising concerns over the EC’s functioning and the SIR exercise.
Opposition parties are preparing to submit a fresh notice in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha to move a motion for the removal of CEC Kumar in the next few days, sources have said earlier.
This will be the third attempt by the opposition to move a motion for Kumar’s removal.
The notice is being drafted and will be vetted by legal experts before being submitted in both Houses of Parliament.
Previous Removal Attempts And EC Response
In March, notices seeking Kumar’s removal were submitted in both Houses of Parliament, and both notices were rejected by the Chair.
The opposition subsequently submitted a fresh notice in the Rajya Sabha in April, containing nine grounds for Kumar’s removal.
The fresh mobilisation followed a report in The Indian Express that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had raised objections on at least 14 occasions over a 10-month period to decisions and procedures related to the SIR exercise and other matters.
The report triggered a fresh political controversy, with opposition parties renewing their demand for Kumar’s removal.
The Election Commission subsequently said that its decisions, including those relating to the SIR, had been taken unanimously, and maintained that differing views and observations were part of institutional deliberations.
