Congress demands Gyanesh Kumar’s scalp; raises concerns over functioning of ECI

Hyderabad: The Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) organised a protest rally in Hyderabad demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, citing concerns over the functioning, independence and credibility of the Election Commission of India (ECI).

The rally, led by TPCC president Bomma Mahesh Kumar Goud, was taken out from the Indira Gandhi statue at Necklace Road to the office of the Chief Electoral Officer, Telangana. Protesters burnt effigies of CEC Gyanesh Kumar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

Later, Bomma Mahesh Kumar Goud, Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka and Ministers-- Ponnam Prabhakar, Duddilla Sridhar Babu, Mohammed Azharuddin and Vivek Venkataswamy, MPs—Chamala Kiran Kumar Reddy, Anil Kumar Yadav, MLAs—T Rammohan Reddy, Veerlapally Shankar, and Naveen Yadav met Telangana Chief Electoral Officer C. Sudarshan Reddy and submitted a memorandum detailing their demands.

Congress leaders raised concerns over the ECI's decision-making process, particularly in connection with the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. The leaders raised the Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had formally recorded objections on at least 14 occasions over a period of around 10 months and the objections related to voter registration, deletion and restoration of names, aspects of the SIR exercise and management of electoral-roll data.

The Congress also cited reports that more than 13 crore names had been removed from draft electoral rolls across 30 States and Union Territories during the SIR exercise. The ECI, however, has maintained that these were deletions from draft rolls and that statutory procedures were available for filing claims and objections and seeking restoration of names. The Commission has also stated that decisions relating to the SIR were taken unanimously, while differences of opinion during internal deliberations were part of the normal institutional process.

The TPCC demanded the resignation of CEC Gyanesh Kumar and sought greater transparency in the functioning of the poll panel. It called for the disclosure, wherever legally permissible, of minutes, orders, notes and objections relating to decisions reportedly questioned by the two Election Commissioners.

The party also sought an independent and comprehensive review of the reported deletions from draft electoral rolls to determine whether any eligible voters had been inadvertently excluded.

It demanded State-wise and constituency-wise details of deleted names, the reasons for deletion and the number of names subsequently restored. The Congress also sought clarification on how the reported objections of the two Election Commissioners were considered before final decisions were taken.

Congress leaders said the ECI, as a constitutional institution, must function with independence, transparency and accountability. They stressed the need for safeguards to ensure that eligible citizens do not lose their voting rights because of administrative errors, inadequate verification, lack of notice or procedural lapses.

Representatives of the Mahila Congress, Youth Congress, NSUI, TPCC departments and cells, district Congress committees and other frontal organisations also participated.

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