What is the story about?
Congress stepped up its campaign against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar on Monday, holding protests in state capitals and districts across the
country. The party's state units, including Gujarat, Telangana, Madhya Pradesh, Keralam, Assam, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi, took to the streets to demand the resignation of Gyanesh Kumar. Several states saw protestors being detained to control the crowd. It is now pushing for a united opposition front, with the INDIA bloc set to meet on September 30 to discuss the row surrounding the Election Commission. In Jaipur, water cannons were used on Congress workers and leaders.
Congress workers also staged a protest in Uttarakhand. At many places, Congress workers also burnt effigies of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
Assam Congress leaders staged a protest at the Manbendra Sarma Complex in Guwahati over “vote chori” allegations and protested against Gyanesh Kumar.
Several states saw protestors being detained to control the crowd. In Jaipur, water cannons were used on Congress workers and leaders.
Delhi Congress chief Devender Yadav, detained by police during the party's Delhi protest, said, "Until Gyanesh Kumar resigns, the Congress party's fight will continue."
Uttarakhand Congress Vice President Suryakant Dhasmana said the party was expressing its indignation "in 550 districts across the nation."
Beyond Congress, CPI(M) General Secretary MA Baby and other Left leaders marched from AKG Bhawan to the statue of Shaheed Bhagat Singh at Gole Market in New Delhi on his 119th birth anniversary, pledging to protect the Right to Vote and democracy. This comes as Left parties are pushing for a united opposition front amid the row, even coming together with Former West Bengal Chief Minsiter Mamata Banerjee after being rivals in the state's electoral battle for years.
Why is Opposition demanding CEC's resignation?
The row began after Indian Express had reported that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had raised objections at least 14 times over a period of 10 months on decisions and orders related to the SIR process and other electoral matters. The reported disagreements included issues concerning Form 6, voter deletions and access to electoral-roll databases.
The Election Commission, however, rejected the suggestion that the objections amounted to institutional dissent over final decisions. The poll panel said operational queries, inputs and suggestions raised during the draft stage were part of its standard administrative and decision-making process. The Commission maintained that all decisions, including those related to SIR, were unanimous and had the approval of all three commissioners.
The Congress, CPI, CPI(M), Trinamool Congress and Shiv Sena (UBT) have all called for Kumar's resignation, and Congress MP Karti Chidambaram said the bloc's representatives would hold "a free and frank discussion" at the meeting
