SIR row: Opposition takes to streets against CEC in Delhi; CJP protest in Mumbai | RTP
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "SIR row: Opposition takes to streets against CEC in Delhi; CJP protest in Mumbai | RTP")
Police use water cannons to disperse Congress party workers during a protest against the Election Commission's SIR exercise, demanding the resignation and arrest of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, in Bhopal on Monday. Photograph: (ANI)
Protests erupted across Mumbai, Delhi and Patna over the SIR electoral roll revision as the CJP demanded Gyanesh Kumar's resignation, while the Election Commission announced measures to enrol voters left out of the rolls.
The row over the revision of electoral rolls in India has taken a dramatic new turn, with protests unfolding across the country. Over two months after the Cockroach Janta Party led a protest for the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, the youth pressure group is back on the streets, this time in India's financial capital, Mumbai, gunning for the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
Thousands have gathered at Mumbai's Shivaji Park, demanding the resignation of Gyanesh Kumar.
Quirky posters and satirical memes have flooded the protest site, even as protesters waive the tricolour and raise slogans against the Chief Election Commissioner. Heavy security has been deployed in and around Shivaji Park, with additional police personnel and barricades in place.
Several prominent names from the film and music industry also showed up at the protest. Actor Naseeruddin Shah, Shabana Azmi, and singer Vishal Dadlani were among those in attendance.
Protests also erupted in the national capital earlier in the day.
Leaders from the Aam Aadmi Party and several student organisations attempted to stage a protest at Jantar Mantar, but were detained by the Delhi Police.
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In Patna, India bloc allies, the Rashtriya Janata Dal and the CPI(ML) also held a protest.
The protests follow an investigative report which highlighted an unprecedented rupture inside the Election Commission, with two Election Commissioners recording multiple objections over key SIR-related decisions.
Protesters argue that the controversial exercise has been designed to delete a large number of genuine voters from electoral rolls.
The CJP has accused the Chief Election Commissioner of treason and is pressing for his resignation. The Mumbai protest is part of a wider CJP campaign against SIR. The party plans to take the agitation to Goa, Bengaluru and Kolkata.
However, the Bharatiya Janata Party has hit out at the CJP for peddling a fake narrative.
Speaking to the media, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has said that the group's fake narrative has been exposed by the Election Commission.
Meanwhile, India's poll body has announced a special drive to enrol voters left out of the electoral rolls in 20 states and Union Territories where the SIR exercise has been completed.
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Officials have been directed to compare pre-SIR rolls with post-SIR rolls, and identify those who have been left out. Of these 20 states and Union Territories, elections have already been completed in at least four states: West Bengal, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Bihar.
In Maharashtra, which is the largest state where the SIR exercise is still underway, officials have been directed not to delete any voter in haste.
Earlier this week, the poll body rolled back a contentious change in Form 6 in states where the SIR exercise has been completed. Additionally, it has also instructed officials to set up special camps for adding voters to electoral rolls.
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