VIJAYAWADA: Leaders of opposition parties, Left fronts, and civic rights groups staged a massive protest rally in Vijayawada on Friday, demanding the immediate resignation of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar and calling for an absolute halt to the ongoing Special Summary Revision (SIR) process.
The agitation was organised over allegations that 13 crore eligible voters were illicitly removed from electoral rolls across the country. The demonstration commenced at Tummalapalli Kalakshetram and marched through Eluru Road and Old Bus Stand before culminating in a public meeting at Lenin Centre.
Addressing the gathering, CPM State Secretary V Srinivasa Rao accused the Central government of destabilising democratic institutions and alleged that the SIR drive was being misused to strike off new voters and youth via Form 6 applications. Former MLA and YSRCP leader Malladi Vishnu affirmed his party’s full support to the agitation, recalling that YSRCP MPs had already lodged written complaints in Delhi urging the replacement of EVMs with ballot papers and criticising the exclusion of the Chief Justice of India from the CEC selection panel.