Congress protests against CEC Gyanesh Kumar as SIR process continues in Karnataka

As the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls continues in Karnataka, the Congress, on Saturday, stepped up its attack on Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, accusing him of misconduct and questioning the transparency of the revision exercise.

Following the 48-hour ultimatum by the Cockroach Janata Party, seeking the ouster of Kumar, Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee leaders and workers gathered at Freedom Park in Bengaluru to protest against Kumar. The party has alleged that the Chief Election Commissioner ignored the other two Election Commissioners on multiple occasions and has demanded his resignation and an investigation into his conduct.

The issue has gained additional significance in Karnataka as the state undergoes SIR, with citizens and political parties raising questions over the process and the large number of voters flagged for verification.

The protest was attended by former chief ministers Siddaramaiah and Veerappa Moily, Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar and KPCC president B.K. Hariprasad. Congress leaders H.K. Patil and Rajya Sabha MP Naseer Hussain, along with Mansoor Ali Khan, the Congress candidate from Bengaluru Central in the 2024 Lok Sabha election, also participated. Khan’s defeat in the election and the Congress’s allegations of irregularities relating to voters in his constituency were cited by the party as part of the larger context behind its ‘vote chori’ campaign.

Addressing the gathering, Siddaramaiah said that allegations of malpractice had been raised by two members of the Election Commission itself. He described the alleged conduct as a betrayal of the Constitution and called for Kumar’s removal. Siddaramaiah also urged President Droupadi Murmu to sack the CEC and initiate a criminal investigation into the allegations.

CM Shivakumar said the ‘vote chori’ campaign led by AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had been launched from Freedom Park in Bengaluru. “Eligible voters’ names have been deleted by the Election Commission, which is working for the BJP,” Shivakumar alleged.

Referring to the ongoing SIR, he claimed that Karnataka’s electorate had been reduced from around five crore to four crore and said another 40 lakh voters had received notices. He cited Mansoor Ali Khan’s defeat as an example in the Congress’s broader ‘vote chori’ campaign.

Shivakumar said the SIR process should be transparent and added that the state government had decided to conduct forthcoming local body elections using ballot papers. He also said the government was providing certificates of proof to citizens irrespective of their political affiliations.

Hariprasad, along with Congress workers, burned an effigy of Gyanesh Kumar during the protest. Congress leaders also alleged that nearly 13 crore names had been removed from electoral rolls across the country and claimed that such deletions had been taking place since the BJP came to power.

In Karnataka, the SIR is currently at the notice stage, with the final electoral roll scheduled to be published on October 27. As of the latest figures cited by the state election machinery, around 1.7 crore electors are in the ASDDO category, while about 43 lakh voters have been flagged for logical discrepancies.