Congress demands action against CEC

Vijayawada: The Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) and Vijayawada City Congress Committee organised a protest at the Dharna Centre in Gandhi Nagar here on Friday, raising several demands concerning the electoral process. Addressing the gathering, Congress leader Kolanukonda Sivaji demanded the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and called for his arrest and prosecution. He also demanded an independent inquiry into alleged irregularities in the electoral process and sought a halt to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process. Sivaji demanded restoration of the 13 crore votes allegedly deleted during the electoral revision process. He further called for decentralisation of Election Commission powers and opposed centralisation of data entry, stating that local Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) should not be reduced to nominal roles.

He also demanded changes to software-related provisions that, according to him, were obstructing newly eligible 18-year-old voters from exercising their franchise. He questioned why Gyanesh Kumar allegedly permitted such measures without amendments to election rules and sought clarification on who authorised them.

Sivaji urged courts to take suo motu cognisance of the alleged irregularities and investigate what he described as “vote theft” and its beneficiaries. He also sought responses from N Chandrababu Naidu, YS Jagan Mohan Reddy and Pawan Kalyan on the alleged irregularities concerning the Election Commission in Andhra Pradesh.

Vijayawada City Congress president Naraharishetty Narasimha Rao alleged that the BJP-led alliance had been winning elections across the country through what he termed “100 percent vote theft.” He alleged that the BJP had been coming to power in the 2024 general elections and State Assembly elections by using the Election Commission.

District Congress president Borra Kiran, Meesala Rajeshwara Rao, V Gurunatham, Chilaka Vijay Kumar, SA Ansari, MD Baig, Sai Krishna, Ambati Ramakrishna, Budala Joseph, Bagga Ramana, SK Baji, Nelapati Subhash, Dammu Raju, Valli Mahboob, Para Raj and Sharif MD were among those who addressed the gathering.

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The Hans India