New Delhi [India], September 25 (ANI): Police personnel have been deployed outside the Election Commission of India (ECI) office in the national capital ahead of a protest demonstration by the Delhi Congress over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and demands for the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
The Indian Youth Congress is also scheduled to hold a protest march from 5, Raisina Road to Jantar Mantar on Friday, demanding the resignation of Kumar.
The protests come amid an escalating political row over the functioning of the Election Commission and the SIR exercise. The Indian Express report on Thursday said that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi objected at least 14 times over 10 months to decisions and orders related to the SIR process.
Meanwhile, the Madhya Pradesh Youth Congress staged a protest in Bhopal on Thursday, demanding Kumar's resignation over alleged irregularities in the functioning of the Election Commission and the SIR exercise.
The protesters demonstrated outside the office of the Madhya Pradesh Chief Electoral Officer and raised slogans against the CEC. They also carried posters reading "arrest Gyanesh Kumar for treason" and "Vote-Chori magic trick exposed".
Bhopal district Youth Congress president Ankit Dubey alleged that despite objections raised by two Election Commissioners regarding deletion of voters' names and access to the voter database, no proper inquiry was conducted.
The Indian Youth Congress (IYC) on Thursday also launched a nationwide online citizens' petition titled "Gyanesh, It's Done Bro", seeking action against the CEC and calling upon citizens, particularly young people, to participate in a campaign for electoral transparency and accountability.
The IYC demanded the removal of Kumar as CEC, besides calling for his arrest and prosecution through the citizens' petition. It also sought a comprehensive investigation into electoral-roll processes and the alleged BJP connection raised by the campaign, as well as the release of electoral records and internal objections.
In Punjab, Pradesh Congress Committee president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring demanded the dismissal of CEC Gyanesh Kumar, registration of an FIR against him and his alleged collaborators, followed by their arrest.
He also announced that the party would march to the Election Commission office in Sector 17, Chandigarh, under the leadership of Sachin Pilot.
"The march will begin at 11 AM on September 25 from near the RBI Office, Sector 17, Chandigarh, and proceed towards the ECI office," he said.
In Karnataka, the Pradesh Congress Committee lodged a police complaint seeking legal action against Gyanesh Kumar and BJP MLA Abhay Patil over alleged violation of citizens' voting rights and alleged attempts to manipulate electoral rolls.
The complaint was submitted by KPCC General Secretary S Manohar at High Grounds Police Station in Bengaluru. The Congress alleged that Patil had written a letter seeking deletion of eligible voters' names from electoral rolls and sought penal action against Kumar over alleged arbitrary deletion of valid voters.
Opposition parties are also set to move an impeachment motion notice against CEC Gyanesh Kumar in both Houses of Parliament, with Congress reaching out to other opposition parties over the issue, party sources said. The notice is expected to be submitted within the next two weeks.
The move follows the political controversy over the ECI's functioning and the SIR process. A fresh Indian Express report also said that the Goa Chief Electoral Officer wrote to authorities in Delhi eight times within seven days seeking access to certain facilities but received no response.
Meanwhile, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday alleged with "100 per cent certainty" that India's elections, from the 2024 Lok Sabha polls to several Assembly contests, had been "rigged". He demanded Kumar's resignation and alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah were at the top of a conspiracy and would face investigation.
"The first thing we are saying is Mr. Gyanesh Kumar must resign immediately... This thing that you have done is an act against the Indian nation... A person who attacks the vote, who fundamentally destroys India's democratic institution, is nothing other than a 'Desh Drohi'," Gandhi said.
He also said the CEC should "turn Approver".
Meanwhile, in Raipur, All India Adivasi Congress President Vikrant Bhuria defended Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's allegations of "vote theft", saying they were based on facts.
"Whatever Rahul Gandhi says is based on facts, and history bears witness that every claim he has made has eventually been proven true. We had been campaigning for quite some time, under his leadership, against vote theft, highlighting that votes were being stolen, elections were being rigged, names were being deleted from voter lists, and the names of ineligible people were being added," Bhuria told ANI.
"Instances were found where thousands of voters were registered at a single address. He substantiated these claims with facts, yet the Election Commission failed to take cognizance of them," he added.
The Election Commission, however, has rejected the assertion that the reported objections by Sandhu and Joshi represented structural or institutional dissent over final decisions. The poll panel has said operational queries, internal feedback and administrative suggestions raised during drafting are part of the normal functioning of a multi-member constitutional body and maintained that all final decisions, including those related to SIR, were unanimous.
The ECI has also said that ECINet is a secure, decentralised digital platform operated under the Representation of the People Acts, 1950 and 1951. According to the poll panel, statutory duties on the platform are carried out by designated field officers, including BLOs, AEROs, EROs, DEOs and CEOs, using unique IDs and secure credentials.
The controversy over SIR and the Election Commission's internal functioning is expected to be taken up at the Congress Working Committee meeting scheduled for September 29 in New Delhi. (ANI)
Police deployed outside ECI office ahead of Delhi Congress protest demanding CEC Gyanesh Kumar's resignation over SIR row
