NEW DELHI: Assam Congress chief Gaurav Gogoi and several party leaders were detained during a protest in Guwahati on Friday demanding the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.The detentions came as Congress workers staged demonstrations in several states over the functioning of the Election Commission.The Jantar mantar protest site has been closed for protestors whereas police used water cannons to disperse protesters in Chandigarh and Patna during the demonstrations.Security personnel were also deployed outside the Election Commission office in New Delhi ahead of a Delhi Congress demonstration over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. The Indian Youth Congress was also scheduled to march from Raisina Road to Jantar Mantar.The protests follow an Indian Express report that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had raised objections at least 14 times over 10 months to decisions and orders related to the SIR process. The report said their concerns included voter registration, deletion and restoration of names and access to electoral-roll databases.Protests spread across statesThe Madhya Pradesh Youth Congress held a protest outside the Chief Electoral Officer’s office in Bhopal on Thursday, demanding Kumar’s resignation. Protesters raised slogans against the CEC and carried posters reading “arrest Gyanesh Kumar for treason” and “Vote-Chori magic trick exposed”.In Dehradun, Congress workers also staged a protest demanding Kumar’s resignation, with Congress MP Kumari Selja leading the demonstration.In Punjab, Pradesh Congress Committee president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring demanded Kumar’s dismissal, an FIR against him and his alleged collaborators, and their arrest. He also announced a march to the ECI office in Chandigarh under the leadership of Sachin Pilot.In Karnataka, the Pradesh Congress Committee filed a police complaint seeking action against Kumar and BJP MLA Abhay Patil over alleged violations of voting rights and alleged attempts to manipulate electoral rolls. Congress alleged that Patil had sought deletion of eligible voters’ names and sought penal action against Kumar over alleged arbitrary deletions.Congress workers in Kolkata, West Bengal also staged a protest demanding the resignation of Kumar.CJP threatens nationwide protestsCJP founder Abhijeet Dipke on Friday said his organisation would launch nationwide protests from October 2 if Kumar did not resign by Saturday.In a post on X, Dipke said CJP would begin its protest from Mumbai on Gandhi Jayanti and subsequently take the agitation to cities across India.“If Gyanesh Kumar does not resign by tomorrow, CJP will begin its nationwide protest from Mumbai on 2 October, and take it to cities across India. This Gandhi Jayanti let’s pledge to save democracy,” Dipke wrote.The announcement came a day after Dipke demanded Kumar’s resignation and threatened a “Jantar Mantar 2.0” agitation if his demand was not met.Youth Congress launches online petitionThe Indian Youth Congress on Thursday launched a nationwide online citizens’ petition titled “Gyanesh, It’s Done Bro”, seeking action against Kumar and urging citizens, particularly young people, to participate in a campaign for electoral transparency and accountability.The IYC has demanded Kumar’s removal as CEC, along with his arrest and prosecution. It has also sought a comprehensive investigation into electoral-roll processes, the alleged BJP connection raised by the campaign, and the release of electoral records and internal objections.Opposition plans removal motionOpposition parties are also preparing to move a motion seeking Kumar’s removal in both Houses of Parliament, with Congress reaching out to other opposition parties, party sources said. The notice is expected to be submitted in the coming days. A similar move is being prepared as the political dispute over the ECI and SIR continues.Rahul Gandhi steps up allegationsCongress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday alleged with “100 per cent certainty” that elections in India, including the 2024 Lok Sabha polls and 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”.In Raipur, All India Adivasi Congress president Vikrant Bhuria defended 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.Priyanka backs Rahul’s allegationsCongress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra defended Rahul Gandhi’s allegations and rejected the BJP’s response to the controversy.“I’m sorry, that’s a very stale and weak story. There are facts, there is evidence. It is there for the whole country to see. My brother (Rahul Gandhi) has shown it in many different press conferences. He has put the evidence forward. Now it is very clear. 13 crore voters have been deleted. This is a lame excuse, and the BJP should stop making lame excuses. If they are meddling with our elections and if their leadership is making the Election Commission do this, then it is an act of treason and they should be aware of it...They are doing an illegal act. How many years has it been that they have been rigging elections? Naturally, they are so overconfident all the time…”Asked whether Congress was planning a protest, she said, “There is a CWC meeting, I think, for which I am having to go back. So they will decide on that meeting and suppose what the course of action will be.”ECI rejects claims of internal dissentThe Election Commission has rejected the assertion that objections raised 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 the drafting process are part of the normal functioning of a multi-member constitutional body. It has maintained that all final decisions, including those related to SIR, were unanimous.The ECI has also said 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.Chirag Paswan asks ECI to clarifyUnion minister Chirag Paswan said that if questions are being raised about the Election Commission, an independent constitutional body, the responsibility lies with the CEC to present his position clearly.“If questions are being raised on Election Commission, which is an independent constitutional body, responsibility lies with CEC to present his stance clearly. It is problematic if people begin to doubt electoral process itself. EC needs to present its stance, not to Rahul Gandhi, but to public,” Paswan said.The controversy over the SIR exercise and the ECI’s internal functioning is expected to be taken up at the Congress Working Committee meeting scheduled for September 29 in New Delhi.SC plea challenges Gyanesh KumarA plea filed in the Supreme Court has challenged alleged unilateral decisions taken by Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar in connection with the Election Commission’s electoral-roll revision exercise, including the Special Intensive Revision (SIR).
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The petitioner has sought an SIT investigation into the alleged deletion of around 13 crore voters from electoral rolls. The plea also seeks a declaration that decisions allegedly taken without the concurrence of the other two Election Commissioners were illegal.It has further sought restoration of the original Form 6 used for voter registration and prosecution of Gyanesh Kumar, Deputy Election Commissioner Maneesh Garg and ECI IT head Seema Khanna for alleged violations of their duties under the Representation of the People Act.
