![\"SIR](\"https:\/\/static.toiimg.com\/thumb\/msid-134479738,imgsize-83974,width-400,height-225,resizemode-4\/file-photo.jpg\" "\\"Water")
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nNEW DELHI: Congress protests demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar were across states on Friday, with police using water cannons to disperse protesters in Chandigarh and Patna.Security personnel were 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 states<\/span>The Madhya Pradesh Youth Congress held a protest outside the Chief Electoral Officer\u2019s office in Bhopal on Thursday, demanding Kumar\u2019s resignation. Protesters raised slogans against the CEC and carried posters reading \u201carrest Gyanesh Kumar for treason\u201d and \u201cVote-Chori magic trick exposed\u201d.In Dehradun, Congress workers also staged a protest demanding Kumar\u2019s resignation, with Congress MP Kumari Selja leading the demonstration.In Punjab, Pradesh Congress Committee president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring demanded Kumar\u2019s 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.\u201cThe march will begin at 11 AM on September 25 from near the RBI Office, Sector 17, Chandigarh, and proceed towards the ECI office,\u201d he said.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\u2019 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 protests<\/span>CJP 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.\u201cIf 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\u2019s pledge to save democracy,\u201d Dipke wrote.The announcement came a day after Dipke demanded Kumar\u2019s resignation and threatened a \u201cJantar Mantar 2.0\u201d agitation if his demand was not met.Youth Congress launches online petition<\/span>The Indian Youth Congress on Thursday launched a nationwide online citizens\u2019 petition titled \u201cGyanesh, It\u2019s Done Bro\u201d, 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\u2019s 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\u2019s 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 allegations<\/span>Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday alleged with \u201c100 per cent certainty\u201d that elections in India, including the 2024 Lok Sabha polls and several Assembly contests, had been \u201crigged\u201d. He demanded Kumar\u2019s 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.\u201cThe 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’,\u201d Gandhi said.He also said the CEC should \u201cturn Approver\u201d.In Raipur, All India Adivasi Congress president Vikrant Bhuria defended Gandhi\u2019s allegations of \u201cvote theft\u201d, saying they were based on facts.\u201cWhatever 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,\u201d Bhuria told ANI.\u201cInstances 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,\u201d he added.Priyanka backs Rahul\u2019s allegations<\/span>Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra defended Rahul Gandhi\u2019s allegations and rejected the BJP\u2019s response to the controversy.\u201cI’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…\u201dAsked whether Congress was planning a protest, she said, \u201cThere 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.\u201dECI rejects claims of internal dissent<\/span>The 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 clarify<\/span>Union 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.\u201cIf 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,\u201d Paswan said.The controversy over the SIR exercise and the ECI\u2019s internal functioning is expected to be taken up at the Congress Working Committee meeting scheduled for September 29 in New Delhi.<\/p>\n Share your thoughts in the comments<\/p>\n<\/div>\n