New Delhi, Feb. 18 -- Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday expressed strong dissent on the process by which the new Chief Election Commissioner, Gyanesh Kumar was appointed, criticising Prime Minister Narendra Modi government's decision to exclude the Chief Justice of India from the selection committee.

He said that by violating the Supreme Court order and "removing" the Chief Justice from the selection committee, the government has "exacerbated the concerns of hundreds of millions of voters over the integrity of our electoral process."

On February 17, the government appointed Gyanesh Kumar as the new CEC, to succeed Rajiv Kumar. The Lok Sabha LoP, who is part of the committee led by Prime Minis...