Dehradun (Uttarakhand) [India], September 26 (ANI): The Uttarakhand Congress on Friday staged a massive protest and gheraoed the Election Commission office and demanded the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
Uttarakhand Pradesh Congress Committee president Ganesh Godiyal, AICC state in-charge Kumari Selja, Leader of Opposition Yashpal Arya, former Chief Minister Harish Rawat, CWC member Karan Mahara, Deputy Leader of Opposition Bhuvan Kapri, former Assembly Speaker Govind Singh Kunjwal, former MP Pradeep Tamta, Discipline Committee chairman Vikram Singh Negi, along with party MLAs and senior leaders took part in the protest.
The protesters marched from the Pradesh Congress office to the Secretariat, raising slogans, and later “gheraoed the Election Commission office”. They also burnt an effigy of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
The protest was organised as part of programmes being held across the country on the call of the All-India Congress Committee.
The Congress submitted a memorandum addressed to the President of India demanding removal and arrest of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
The Congress said that the Election Commission of India is a crucial constitutional institution responsible for conducting free, fair and transparent elections, and that the trust of crores of voters rests on its impartiality and constitutional commitment.
The Uttarakhand Congress alleged that several serious questions have emerged in recent days regarding the electoral process, revision of electoral rolls and transparency in elections. It particularly raised concerns over the process of adding and deleting names from voter lists and disposal of objections.
The party alleged that complaints by opposition parties regarding alleged discrimination in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process were not being taken into consideration by the Election Commission. It said that under such circumstances, complete transparency, accountability and equal treatment of all political parties in the functioning of the Election Commission were essential.
Congress leaders further alleged that despite disagreement from the two Election Commissioners, Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar was taking unilateral decisions, which they termed unconstitutional and a violation of democratic principles.
The Congress said the credibility of a constitutional institution like the Election Commission can be maintained only when the public and all political parties have confidence in its decisions and functioning. It said that if widespread questions are being raised over the impartiality and decision-making process of the Election Commission, clear and satisfactory answers must be provided.
The party also alleged irregularities in the SIR process in Uttarakhand and drew attention to what it described as serious procedural discrepancies emerging during the ongoing revision of electoral rolls in the state.
The Congress said that safeguarding the names of every eligible citizen on the electoral rolls is a constitutional responsibility of the Election Commission. It alleged that during the SIR process, objections were being filed against the names of a large number of valid voters, raising serious questions over the transparency and fairness of the electoral rolls.
The party claimed that complaints had emerged from several Assembly constituencies in Uttarakhand that some individuals had submitted a large number of Form 7 applications in an attempt to seek deletion of voters’ names from different constituencies.
The Congress demanded an inquiry into the circumstances under which individuals who were allegedly neither actual neighbours nor residents of the concerned voters were able to file such a large number of objections. (ANI)
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