Today in Politics: As EC Arun Goel quits and Opposition takes aim at Modi govt, what next?

The bombshell dropped late on Saturday. Election Commissioner (EC) Arun Goel, who till Friday was busy with meetings on Lok Sabha poll preparations, has resigned and now going into the parliamentary elections the three-member poll body is just a one-member organisation comprising Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Rajiv Kumar.

The decision took the Opposition by surprise and the effects of its fallout are expected to play out on Sunday. “India now has only ONE Election Commissioner, even as Lok Sabha elections are to be announced in few days. Why?” asked Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge. “As I have said earlier, if we do NOT stop the systematic decimation of our independent institutions, our DEMOCRACY shall be usurped by DICTATORSHIP! ECI will now be among the last Constitutional institutions to fall,” he posted on X.

Election Commission or Election OMISSION?

India now has only ONE Election Commissioner, even as Lok Sabha elections are to be announced in few days. Why?

As I have said earlier, if we do NOT stop the systematic decimation of our independent institutions, our DEMOCRACY shall…

— Mallikarjun Kharge (@kharge) <a href=«https://twitter.com/kharge/status/1766514087188435427?ref_src=» https: class="" rel=«nofollow, noopener» target="_blank">March 9, 2024

Senior RJD MP Manoj Jha and Trinamool Congress (TMC) Rajya Sabha MP Saket Gokhale also expressed worries about the developments in the EC. How the Opposition responds and how the government handles the concerns being expressed will be closely tracked throughout the day.

Among the questions that are likely to be raised are:

The answer to the last question, as Damini Nath and Manoj CG report, is most likely not. A meeting of the Prime Minister-headed high-level panel to