Rahul Gandhi Asks PM Modi Why Was Chief Justice Dropped From Panel To Pick CEC

December 9, 2025

Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday lashed out at the Centre.

New Delhi : Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday lashed out at the Centre, questioning the Narendra Modi government on why it was so intent on removing the Chief Justice of India from the panel in charge of selecting the poll body chief and other election commissioners. Rahul Gandhi said that he is part of the selection panel as the Leader of the Opposition, but claimed he had no voice since he was outnumbered, with Prime Minister Modi on one side and Union Home Minister Amit Shah on the other.

Rahul Gandhi was referring to the 2023 law that replaced the Chief Justice of India (CJI) with a Union Cabinet Minister on the three-member selection panel that recommends appointments to the President, with the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition being the other two members. He was referring to Clause 16 of the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Act, 2023, which grants protection to the poll body chief and the Election Commissioners from any action arising out of decisions taken while in office.

Highlighting examples of what he called discrepancies in voter rolls across states, Rahul Gandhi said, This is how you are winning elections in Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, and Bihar. In Bihar alone, 1.2 lakh duplicate photos were found after the purification of voter rolls. He was referring to Clause 16 of the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Act, 2023, which grants protection to the poll body chief and the Election Commissioners from any action arising out of decisions taken while in office.

Highlighting examples of what he called discrepancies in voter rolls across states, Rahul Gandhi said, “This is how you are winning elections in Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, and Bihar. In Bihar alone, 1.2 lakh duplicate photos were found after the purification of voter rolls.” Listing three key suggestions to the poll body, Rahul Gandhi demanded that machine-readable voter lists be provided to all political parties one month before the elections.