Congress workers protested outside Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar's residence in Agra on Monday, raising slogans against him and defacing the main gate and a wall of the house with spray paint.
The protesters, who included workers of the Congress and its affiliated organisations, arrived at Kumar's house in the morning in large numbers and raised slogans outside his Vijay Nagar home. They also put up stickers and pasted pamphlets outside the residence.
The protesters used spray paint to write "Gyanesh Gaddar Gyanesh Chor" -- calling the CEC a "traitor" and a "thief" -- in Hindi on the main gate and wall of the house. Visuals of the protest and the defacement were subsequently circulated on social media.
The Indian Youth Congress, in a post on X, said, "In Agra, Congress workers blackened with soot the house of 'Gaddar Gyanesh'. The way Modi and Shah, in collusion with Gyanesh, have looted elections across different parts of the country over the past several years is directly an act of treason against the country. We will ensure that Gyanesh is punished."
A 1988-batch Indian Administrative Service officer of the Kerala cadre, he was appointed election commissioner to the poll panel on March 15, 2024 after retiring from service on January 31, 2024.
Kumar assumed charge as the 26th CEC of India on February 19 last year.
Monday's protest came amid an intensifying confrontation between the Congress and the Election Commission over the functioning of the poll panel, including the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
The Congress has been holding protests against the Election Commission in Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and other parts of the country, alleging that the poll panel has acted in favour of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has particularly targeted CEC Gyanesh Kumar, accusing him of taking unconstitutional steps. Gandhi has also described such alleged actions as "treason".
The protests have intensified since an investigation published by The Indian Express last week claimed that two of the three election commissioners had formally raised objections on 14 occasions over a 10-month period regarding decisions of the poll panel and called specific changes in voter enrolment forms "unauthorised/illegal".
Following the report, opposition parties, including the Samajwadi Party, stepped up their criticism of the Election Commission as well as the BJP.
On Sunday, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath criticised the Congress and its allies over their attacks on the Election Commission and the SIR.
Adityanath accused the Congress and its allies of weakening democratic institutions for political interests and said they should apologise to the nation for their criticism of the Election Commission and the SIR.
He described recent statements by opposition parties on the revision of electoral rolls as "extremely irresponsible".
(With inputs from PTI)