Asaduddin Owaisi, who leads the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen, has called for the repeal of the 2023 law governing the appointment of the Chief Election Commissioner and Election Commissioners, including the legal protections the statute extends to them.

Speaking before the Lok Sabha on 12 October, the Hyderabad MP argued that a specific clause in the legislation could undermine public confidence in the Election Commission. He noted that members on his side had placed those concerns on record during the drafting stage, before the bill received parliamentary approval, with the objections centred on the body's perceived standing among voters across India.

The legislation includes a clause extending legal protection from prosecution to anyone serving as Chief Election Commissioner or Election Commissioner, a shield that continues to apply after they leave office. Owaisi questioned why Election Commissioners were being shielded from legal accountability, pointing to Indian legal precedent that permits criminal proceedings to be initiated against sitting prime ministers — citing PV Narasimha Rao's summons in the Jain Hawala diary matter and LK Advani's court appearances tied to the Babri Masjid proceedings as illustrations.

Owaisi also took issue with the composition of the three-member selection body, whose seats are held by the Prime Minister, a Union Cabinet Minister of the Prime Minister's choosing, and the Leader of the Opposition. His contention centred on the appointment mechanism for the Election Commissioner, with the selection process drawing scrutiny as one that entrenches those already holding power.

He argued that the expectation of those on the panel installing a preferred candidate was built into the process itself. Owaisi called for the legislation to be repealed and pressed for the Chief Justice of India to be reinstated to the selection committee, arguing that the concerns raised earlier had since borne out. He specifically called for the Chief Justice of India to sit on the panel alongside the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition.

Owaisi also put forward a formal call for the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls to be brought to an end, questioning what grounds existed for carrying out the SIR. He noted that approximately 100 million voter registrations had been removed from the rolls and that the Form 6 submission process now requires applicants to provide address-mapping details.

Owaisi further contended that deploying barricades and security measures throughout the capital in advance of planned gatherings stood in direct tension with constitutionally guaranteed freedoms, noting that the Supreme Court had itself upheld the right to peaceful protest. He pressed for both the discontinuation of the SIR and the repeal of the law underpinning it, characterising the handling of the matter as falling short at every stage.

Speaking to reporters, Owaisi stated that the INDIA bloc's petition drive to the Supreme Court over Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar's position had no connection to him — that he had not organised it, joined it, or played any part in it. He added that the programme belonged to others and that responsibility for seeing it through rested with them.