Opposition MPs holding cutouts of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar dressed in an RSS uniform staged a protest march to the Election Commission’s office in Delhi on Tuesday over alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
The march took place amid heavy security deployment and barricading in and around Parliament and the Election Commission headquarters, with security personnel stationed in the area well before the MPs began arriving.
“Gyanesh, it’s done, bro. Time to resign,” Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi said in a post on X.
Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi and NCP-SP MP Supriya Sule, along with several other INDIA bloc MPs, participated in the march.
The MPs later staged a dharna in front of the NITI Aayog office, on the stretch between NITI Aayog and Akashvani Bhavan leading towards the Election Commission headquarters, after they were stopped by Delhi Police.
The protesters raised slogans including “BJP hai CEC hai”, “Vote chor, gaddi chhod” and “Democracy not for sale”.
TMC leaders Abhishek Banerjee and Derek O’Brien, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and CPI(M) leader John Brittas were among those who participated in the march.
The INDIA bloc leaders renewed their demand for Kumar’s resignation, citing the Supreme Court’s observations concerning changes to Form 6, the statutory application used for enrolment as a voter.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge alleged that the government was stripping people of their rights and accused CEC Kumar of acting at its behest. He said the principle of universal adult franchise secured after Independence was being undermined and alleged that the Election Commission was functioning under the government’s direction.
Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut questioned the scale of the security deployment ahead of the march, saying the MPs intended to proceed peacefully.
“We are MPs. We are members of Parliament. We are also citizens of this country. Why is there a need to deploy such a large force to stop us? We will walk and go. We are unarmed,” he said.
The Opposition has stepped up its criticism of the Election Commission following the Supreme Court’s observations on Monday regarding Form 6. The Opposition has alleged that the Chief Election Commissioner acted at the behest of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
A bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V. Mohana said the court would examine the decisions taken in the matter and intervene if any were found to be contrary to law.
