‘Gaddar Gyanesh’ slogan painted outside CEC's Agra home as Cong workers protest

• Congress workers protested outside CEC Gyanesh Kumar’s Agra residence and spray-painted slogans on its gate and wall.

• The protest comes amid the Congress–Election Commission confrontation over electoral-roll revision and other poll-related issues.

• The Congress has accused the poll panel of favouring the BJP, while Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath has criticised the opposition’s campaign against the Election Commission.

Congress workers protested outside Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar’s residence in Agra on Monday, raising slogans against him and spray-painting derogatory messages on the main gate and a wall of the house.

A large group of Congress workers and members of affiliated organisations gathered outside Kumar’s residence in Vijay Nagar in the morning. They raised slogans, put up stickers and pasted pamphlets around the property.

The protesters spray-painted the words “Gyanesh Gaddar Gyanesh Chor” — calling the CEC a “traitor” and a “thief” — on the gate and wall. Videos and photographs of the protest and the defacement were subsequently circulated on social media. Similar protests against Kumar were also held in Delhi on Monday.

The Indian Youth Congress, in a post on X, accused Kumar of acting in concert with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah and alleged that elections had been “looted” in different parts of the country. The organisation said it would seek action against the CEC.

Kumar, a 1988-batch Indian Administrative Service officer of the Kerala cadre, was appointed election commissioner on 15 March 2024 after retiring from government service on 31 January that year. He became the 26th chief election commissioner on 19 February 2025.

Monday’s protest comes amid an escalating 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 in Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and other parts of the country, alleging that the Election Commission has acted in favour of the BJP. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has repeatedly criticised Kumar over the issue and accused the poll panel of taking unconstitutional steps.

The protests intensified following an Indian Express investigation published last week, which reported that two of the three election commissioners had raised objections on 14 occasions over a 10-month period concerning decisions of the poll panel. The report said they had also described certain changes in voter-enrolment forms as “unauthorised/illegal”.

Opposition parties, including the Samajwadi Party, subsequently stepped up criticism of the Election Commission and the BJP.

Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Sunday criticised the Congress and its allies over their attacks on the Election Commission and SIR. He accused the opposition of weakening democratic institutions for political interests and said its criticism of the electoral-roll revision was “extremely irresponsible”.