Congress stages protests demanding CEC’s resignation

Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) president Mahesh Kumar Goud demanded the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar, alleging that recent developments surrounding the Election Commission’s handling of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls had raised questions about its transparency and credibility.

Demanding the CEC’s resignation, the TPCC organised a protest rally from the Indira Gandhi Statue on Necklace Road to the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO).

Mr Goud, along with Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka and Ministers Ponnam Prabhakar, Duddilla Sridhar Babu, Mohammed Azharuddin and Gaddam Vivek Venkataswamy, later met Chief Electoral Officer C. Sudarshan Reddy and submitted a memorandum.

Sangareddy DCC president Chandrashekhar Reddy, Narayankhed MLA Sanjeeva Reddy, former DCC president Nirmala Jagga Reddy and others staging a protest in Sangareddy on Monday.
| Photo Credit:
MOHD ARIF

The Congress leaders referred to recent media reports that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had recorded objections on at least 14 occasions over 10 months on issues relating to voter registration, deletion and restoration of names, changes to Form 6 and the management of electoral-roll databases.

They also raised concerns over reports that more than 13 crore names had been struck off the draft electoral rolls across 30 States and Union Territories during the SIR exercise. The Election Commission has maintained that the figures related to deletions at the draft stage and that statutory provisions were available for filing claims and objections. It has also said that decisions taken by the Commission, including those concerning SIR, were unanimous.

The TPCC sought the publication, to the extent legally permissible, of minutes, orders, notes and objections relating to the decisions in question. It also demanded an independent review of the reported deletions and State-wise and constituency-wise disclosure of deleted names, reasons for deletion and the number subsequently restored.

The party further sought a public explanation from the Election Commission on the objections reportedly raised by the two Election Commissioners and how they were considered before decisions were taken.

The Congress demanded safeguards to ensure that eligible voters were not excluded from electoral rolls because of administrative errors, inadequate verification, failure to receive notices or procedural lapses.

Among those who participated in the protest were MPs Chamala Kiran Kumar Reddy and Anil Kumar Yadav, MLAs, senior leaders and others participated in the protest.

Rally in Sangareddy

Meanwhile, Medak MP Suresh Shetkar alleged that large-scale deletion of votes had taken place in elections in Bihar and West Bengal and said the Congress was fighting against “vote theft” across the country. Sangareddy DCC president Chandrashekhar Reddy, former DCC president Nirmala Jagga Reddy, Narayankhed MLA Sanjeeva Reddy and others called upon Congress workers to remain vigilant at the booth level and verify the names of eligible voters in the electoral rolls.