HYDERABAD: Alleging that questions had been raised over the functioning, transparency and credibility of the Election Commission of India, the Telangana Congress on Monday staged a protest rally in Hyderabad demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
The protest, led by TPCC president B Mahesh Kumar Goud, began at the Indira Gandhi statue at Necklace Road and proceeded towards the office of the Telangana Chief Electoral Officer. Protesters also burnt effigies of Gyanesh, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah. Similar protests were staged across the state.
Later, Mahesh Goud, Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, Ministers Ponnam Prabhakar, Duddilla Sridhar Babu, Mohammed Azharuddin and Vivek Venkatswamy, MPs Chamala Kiran Kumar Reddy and Anil Kumar Yadav, MLAs and other Congress leaders met CEO C Sudarshan Reddy and submitted a memorandum.
The Congress leaders raised concern over the ECI’s functioning and decision-making, particularly in connection with the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. Citing recent media reports, they pointed out that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had recorded official objections on at least 14 occasions over about 10 months. The reported objections related to voter registration, deletion and restoration of names, decisions connected with the SIR exercise and handling of election data.
The leaders also expressed concern over reports that more than 13 crore names had been deleted from draft electoral rolls across 30 states and union territories during the SIR exercise.
The Congress sought disclosure, subject to legal provisions, of relevant decision-making records, including minutes, orders, notes and objections. It also demanded state-wise and constituency-wise details of deletions, reasons for deletion and names subsequently restored following claims and objections.
The memorandum listed six demands, including Gyanesh’s resignation, an independent review of reported deletions, clarification on the reported objections by the two Election Commissioners and stronger safeguards against eligible voters being excluded because of administrative or procedural errors.
The leaders said the ECI had a responsibility to ensure a transparent, inclusive and credible electoral process and reiterated their demand for Gyanesh’s resignation.