RANCHI: Jharkhand Health Minister Irfan Ansari has sparked fresh political controversy after threatening to bring Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar to Ranchi by force, accompanied by 10,000 supporters, if he refuses to resign.
Speaking at a mass mobilisation rally organised by the Opposition INDIA bloc in New Delhi, Ansari also warned that India could witness unrest similar to that seen in Bangladesh or Nepal.
Escalating his criticism of the Election Commission of India (ECI), the minister alleged institutional bias and manipulation of electoral rolls. He claimed that Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi was determined to secure the CEC's immediate resignation over the allegations.
“We have apprehensions that India might end up in a situation similar to Bangladesh or Nepal. We demand the resignation of Gyanesh Kumar. Rahul Gandhi is determined to secure his resignation today, no matter what. If he refuses to step down, I, Irfan Ansari, have arrived here with 10,000 people, and we will take Gyanesh Kumar with us to Ranchi,” Ansari said.
The remarks come amid intensified protests by INDIA bloc leaders and party workers in New Delhi against the ECI over allegations of electoral roll manipulation and institutional bias.
Ansari claimed that people in Jharkhand were apprehensive that their votes were being stolen.
“BJP people are saying that they will send us to Bangladesh. Governments are formed to protect people, but you (BJP) are killing us. We want our voting rights and we want Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar to be removed,” he said.
Several Congress leaders from Jharkhand travelled to Delhi to participate in the rally. On October 29, Congress leader and Agriculture Minister Shilpi Neha Tirkey, along with party leader Bandhu Tirkey, facilitated the departure of supporters in several buses.
Irfan Ansari also travelled to Delhi with hundreds of his supporters to attend the rally.
The state Congress unit has claimed that approximately 12,000 party workers from Jharkhand are travelling to Delhi for the event.
Chief Minister Hemant Soren and his wife, MLA Kalpana Soren, were also in Delhi on Sunday to participate in the mega rally organised by the INDIA bloc on November 1. Both travelled to the national capital on a special flight on Friday.