New Delhi [India], September 25 (ANI): A day after lodging a formal complaint at the Parliament Street Police Station against CEC Gyanesh Kumar amid the ECI row, TMC MP Mahua Moitra participated in the agitation demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar at Jantar Mantar on Friday.
The Indian Youth Congress (IYC) had marched from Raisina Road to Jantar Mantar in the national capital, demanding the resignation of Kumar.
Speaking to reporters at the protest, Moitra alleged Kumar was “a criminal” who “needs to be prosecuted” and demanded his resignation.
“Gyanesh Kumar is a criminal and he needs to be prosecuted. He needs to resign”, she said, adding that police deployment will not stop the protestors. “The police is going to stop the protestors… The SIR process has to stop,” she said.
The protests come amid a political row over the SIR exercise following an Indian Express report that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had raised objections at least 14 times over 10 months concerning decisions and procedures related to electoral rolls and database access.
The Election Commission has rejected the characterisation of these objections as institutional dissent, saying operational queries, internal feedback and administrative suggestions are part of the normal functioning of a multi-member constitutional body. The ECI has maintained that all final decisions concerning SIR were unanimous.
Mahua Moitra has also lodged a formal complaint at the Parliament Street Police Station on Thursday against CEC Gyanesh Kumar, accusing him of procedural violations, unilateral decision-making, and manipulation of electoral rolls.
In Patna, Bihar, police used water cannons to disperse Congress workers protesting against Gyanesh Kumar and demanding his resignation.
Similar scenes were witnessed in Punjab, where police deployed water cannons as Congress workers staged a demonstration in Chandigarh. Some protesters climbed atop police vans during the protest.
Congress workers also staged demonstrations in several other states, including Jammu and Kashmir, Assam, Uttarakhand, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and Manipur.
The Congress has also indicated that opposition parties may move an impeachment motion against Kumar in Parliament. The issue is expected to come up at the Congress Working Committee meeting scheduled for September 29 in New Delhi. (ANI)
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