Congress protests across India, seeks CEC Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation

• Congress workers held demonstrations in several cities on Friday over reported objections within the Election Commission to electoral roll decisions

• Police stopped protesters in Patna and Manipur; Assam Congress president Gaurav Gogoi was among those detained in Guwahati

• The Election Commission said differing views were part of normal deliberations and maintained that its orders followed statutory procedures

Congress workers staged protests across several parts of India on Friday, demanding the resignation of chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar after was reported that the two Election Commissioners had repeatedly objected to decisions concerning electoral rolls.

Protesters burnt effigies of Kumar and raised slogans. Police fired a few tear gas shells to disperse them. The demonstrators also called for Kumar’s arrest and an independent review of decisions and changes to electoral rolls made during his tenure.

In Patna, workers marched towards the poll panel’s office, raising slogans against Kumar. Police used water cannons to prevent them from reaching the building. Bihar Congress chief Rajesh Ram alleged that the Election Commission was “compromised” and demanded Kumar’s resignation.

In Manipur, protesters burnt effigies of Kumar outside the Chief Electoral Officer’s office at Lamphel. Police fired tear gas shells to disperse them. The protesters also called for Kumar’s arrest and an independent review of electoral roll changes made during his tenure.

Assam Congress president Gaurav Gogoi and several other party leaders were detained in Guwahati after trying to cross police barricades near the party’s state headquarters, police said. The group had planned to march to the Chief Electoral Officer’s office and burn an effigy of Kumar. Congress spokesperson Bedabrata Bora alleged that the leaders had been “forcefully arrested”.

In Delhi, Indian Youth Congress workers wearing masks bearing Kumar’s face marched from their Raisina Road office to demand his resignation. Led by youth wing president Uday Bhanu Chib, protesters carried banners and called for an investigation into the electoral process and the release of electoral records and internal objections. Police and paramilitary personnel were deployed along the route, with barricades and detention buses in place.

Congress workers also protested in Chandigarh, while party MLAs raised slogans and displayed banners in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly.

The demonstrations followed the Indian Express report that election commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had recorded objections at least 14 times over the past 10 months to decisions and orders they said were issued without their knowledge. According to the report, their concerns covered changes to voter registration Form 6, additions and deletions from electoral rolls, and centralised control of electoral roll systems.

The Congress has alleged that newly eligible young voters are being excluded from the rolls. The Election Commission, responding to the reported objections, said differing views were a normal part of institutional deliberations. It maintained that its orders had full legal sanction and followed established statutory procedures.