The national anthem, “Jana Gana Mana”, set the tone for an extraordinary political proceeding on Saturday as the INDIA bloc convened a mock Parliament at Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge’s residence to hold a “public impeachment” of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar, accusing him of presiding over large-scale deletions of voters from electoral rolls and acting at the behest of the Narendra Modi government.With former Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar presiding over the proceedings at 10 Rajaji Marg, Kharge moved the motion against the CEC, listing six charges and demanding his removal. Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi was also present and was scheduled to deliver the concluding remarks.Opening the proceedings, Meira Kumar said the assembly had been convened because crores of voters were allegedly being removed from electoral rolls without transparency or accountability.“This assembly has been convened for the proceedings of the public impeachment against CEC Gyanesh Kumar,” she said, adding that questions raised by the INDIA bloc over the deletions had not received satisfactory answers.She said the proposal would be presented before the assembly by Kharge, who would then make his statement. “Here, everyone is present, including those whose names have been deleted from the voter list,” she said.Invoking the importance of the right to vote, Meira Kumar said India was the world’s largest democracy and that other countries looked up to its democratic system.“Everyone has the right to vote. Our democracy functions on the strength of elections. If even one voter is denied the right to cast their vote, the soul of our democracy is hurt,” she said.Moving the motion, Kharge said the right to vote, guaranteed under Article 326 of the Constitution, was under serious threat. He accused the CEC of functioning under the directions of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah.“We are fighting for democracy. The CEC is acting on the directions of the PM and HM. Seven months ago, 193 Opposition MPs submitted a notice seeking his removal. Our notices were rejected. Today, we have brought this proposal to save the Constitution and democracy,” Kharge said.He alleged that the BJP had used every means to retain power since 2014, citing the alleged theft of Parliament, the splitting of political parties, the toppling of governments, electoral bonds and the use of central agencies such as the Enforcement Directorate and the CBI. He then accused the ruling party of resorting to “vote chori”.Kharge alleged that the CEC was able to carry out these actions because of the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners Act, 2023, which, he claimed, was passed in Parliament in December 2023 following the suspension of 145 Opposition MPs.The six charges levelled against Kumar included conspiring to influence national and state elections, deleting 13.2 crore voters from electoral rolls, rewriting Form 6 without parliamentary oversight, taking control of electoral rolls through ECINET, keeping the other two Election Commissioners out of key decisions, and acting at the behest of Modi and Shah.Kharge claimed that INDIA bloc MPs represented 60 per cent of the country’s population and said all Opposition parties had come together after examining allegations of electoral manipulation.Referring to Rahul Gandhi’s repeated allegations of “vote chori”, Kharge said the Opposition had received no answers from the Election Commission. He demanded data on the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise, including the number of deceased voters and the names of those deleted from electoral rolls.He also accused the government of suppressing protests against the SIR, alleging that train services and internet connections had been suspended and young protesters arrested.“There are shortcomings in the SIR process. Protests are taking place, but the Modi government has imposed restrictions on them. Trains have been stopped, the internet has been shut down and youngsters have been arrested. These are all your mistakes, but you blame the Opposition,” he said.Earlier, Kharge paid tribute to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel on his 151st birth anniversary and former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on her death anniversary. Recalling Indira Gandhi’s words about her commitment to the country, he quoted her:“If I die a violent death, as some fear and a few are plotting, I know that the violence will be in the thought and the action of the assassins, not in my dying — for no hate is dark enough to overshadow the extent of my love for my people and my country; no force strong enough to divert me from my purpose and my endeavour to take this country forward.”The gathering was attended by Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, independent Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal, and Congress leaders Kumari Selja, KC Venugopal and Ajay Maken, among others.Among the other political leaders present were Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti, Pappu Yadav, JMM MP Mahua Maji, Samajwadi Party MPs Dharmendra Yadav, Rajiv Rai and Harendra Malik, and Trinamool Congress MPs Derek O’Brien, Mahua Moitra and Sagarika Ghose.Congress leaders and MPs Shashi Tharoor, Abhishek Singhvi, Gaurav Gogoi, Manish Tewari, Pawan Khera, Amarinder Singh Raja Warring, Deepender Hooda, Charanjit Singh Channi, Mallu Ravi and Imran Masood were also present.Civil society representatives, including Yogendra Yadav, and student leaders Neha Bora and Aishe Ghosh also attended the proceedings.