Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], September 26 (ANI): The Karnataka Congress staged a massive protest against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar amid the SIR row at Bengaluru's Freedom Park on Saturday.
Speaking to ANI, Congress leader Dinesh Gundu Rao demanded the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, asserting that to save democratic rights and democratic institutions in the country, the government should either sack him or he should voluntarily resign from his post.
The Congress leader further questioned the credibility of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, asking how the Election Commission of India (ECI) could be headed by an individual in whom no one has any faith today.
"...How can we allow an Election Commission to become like this, to be headed by such a person whom nobody's got any faith in today? So, that is why this is to save our country's institutions and save our country's democratic rights... Either you sack that fellow, or he should voluntarily resign... The Supreme Court has somehow failed this country when it comes to handling the Election Commission. SC judges also need to introspect and take the right decisions..." said Rao.
Former Karnataka Minister HK Patil stated that the protest has received a significant response from the common people, emphasising that citizens are anguished by such violations of rules and established norms of democracy.
"The Protest is on, you are seeing the response of the people..People have a lot of anguish against this kind of violation of rules and violation of all norms of democracy. We want CEC to quit immediately. If he has any respect for the rule of law, if he has any respect for democracy, he must quit immediately," Patil told reporters.
These developments came amid a political row over the SIR exercise following a news report that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had raised objections at least 14 times over 10 months concerning decisions and procedures related to electoral rolls and database access.
Following these developments, Congress workers staged demonstrations across several states, including Jammu and Kashmir, Assam, Uttarakhand, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and Manipur, against the functioning of the Election Commission and its handling of the SIR exercise.
Party leader Jairam Ramesh accused the government of unleashing a "brutal crackdown" on protests, alleging that Congress leaders, workers, young citizens, students and social activists were detained across the country.
However, the BJP rejected the Opposition's allegations, terming them attempts to divert attention from electoral defeats. BJP MP K Sudhakar alleged that Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi is attempting to create a false narrative of constitutional institutions helping the government retain power in the country.
"... It is appearing like a joke to me. Because debacle after debacle. The political losing every state and nation for three consecutive times under the leadership of Rahul Gandhi. As president of the party, as an opposition leader, he has lost his mental balance. He is trying to create a notion that the institutions are helping the government to come into power. He is trying to create a false narrative. The people are quite smart. Those days have gone by of doing such gimmicks of the Congress party. It was before 2014. After 2014, people are all smart. They are educated. They know what is happening in this country..." Sudhakar told ANI. (ANI)
Congress holds protest in Karnataka against EC Gyanesh Kumar amid SIR row
