SIR row: Congress stages nationwide protests, demands CEC Gyanesh Kumar's resignation, Gaurav Gogoi detained
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "SIR row: Congress stages nationwide protests, demands CEC Gyanesh Kumar's resignation, Gaurav Gogoi detained")
Assam Pradesh Congress Committee President Gaurav Gogoi, along with party members, takes out a procession from Rajiv Bhawan to demand immediate action against the Chief Election Commissioner, Gyanesh Kumar, in Guwahati on Friday. Photograph: (ANI)
Congress workers staged nationwide protests demanding CEC Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation over the SIR and Election Commission functioning, while Assam Congress chief Gaurav Gogoi was detained during a demonstration.
Congress workers staged protests across several states on Friday, demanding the resignation and removal of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar. The nationwide demonstrations came amid the ongoing political dispute over the Election Commission (EC)'s functioning and the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
Protests were reported in Jammu and Kashmir, Assam, Uttarakhand, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Chandigarh and Manipur, among other states. Congress workers marched towards EC offices and raised slogans against the CEC as the party intensified its opposition over the issue.
In Dehradun, Uttarakhand Congress leaders and workers marched from the Pradesh Congress Committee headquarters towards the Election Office at the state Secretariat. The protest was led by state in-charge Kumari Selja and Pradesh Congress Committee president Ganesh Godiyal, with party workers seeking to gherao the office.
Gaurav Gogoi detained during Assam protest
In Assam, Congress president Gaurav Gogoi was detained by Assam Police during a protest demanding the resignation of Gyanesh Kumar. The detention came as the political row over the SIR of electoral rolls intensified.
Speaking to ANI during the protest, Gogoi demanded Kumar's resignation and called for legal action against the Chief Election Commissioner over what he alleged were irregularities in the functioning of the EC.
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“Today, as people have come to know that Gyanesh Kumar Ji has committed a crime and committed an act of treason, he should resign today, and legal action should be taken against him,” Gogoi said.
“Legal action should be taken against them, and they should be arrested. Along with Gyanesh Kumar, the ones sitting behind him—their masters, Prime Minister Modi Ji and Home Minister Amit Shah Ji—should remember today that the country will not forgive them,” he quoted as saying by ANI.
Rahul Gandhi attacks ECI over SIR
The protests followed Rahul Gandhi's criticism of CEC Gyanesh Kumar and the Narendra Modi government on Thursday over the functioning of the Election Commission of India.
Gandhi demanded Kumar's immediate resignation and alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah were the “main conspirators”. He also called for an investigation against them.
Addressing a press conference on the ECI's functioning following media reports related to the SIR process, Gandhi said the issue was not limited to voting.
“The thing to understand here is that if the vote has been destroyed, then our Constitution has been destroyed,” Gandhi said.
The protests came amid an escalating political row over the SIR exercise following an investigative report by The Indian Express. The report said two sitting Election Commissioners, Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi, had formally recorded objections at least 14 times over 10 months regarding procedures, database changes and the ongoing revision of voter lists.
The Election Commission has rejected the characterisation of these objections as evidence of institutional dissent. It said operational queries, internal feedback and administrative suggestions during the drafting process are part of the normal functioning of a multi-member constitutional body. The ECI has maintained that all final decisions, including those concerning SIR, were unanimous.
The SIR exercise and ECI functioning are expected to be discussed at the Congress Working Committee meeting on September 29.
