Kerala's Chief Minister's Office on May 27, 2026 demanded that Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar step down after former Kerala Chief Secretary Jiji Thomson accused the CEC of courting him with a BJP ticket for the 2019 Lok Sabha from Pathanamthitta.
The statement slammed Kumar as a "BJP agent" and warned that his continued presence would "pose a grave danger" to the integrity of the Election Commission, calling his tenure a "death sentence" to Indian democracy.
Thomson, who served as Kerala's chief secretary from 2015 to 2017, recounted a 2016 phone call from Kumar in which he was offered the seat and promised a Union ministerial berth if the bid succeeded.
In a separate tweet, Rahul Gandhi blasted Kumar for "fixing elections" and urged Parliament to launch a probe into the CEC's conduct.
The CMO has filed a formal notice with the Ministry of Home Affairs; a debate on a potential impeachment motion is slated for the next parliamentary session.