Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh) [India], September 24 (ANI): Madhya Pradesh Youth Congress staged a protest in Bhopal on Thursday, demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in the functioning of the Election Commission and the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. 

The protestors demonstrated outside the office of the Madhya Pradesh Chief Electoral Officer in the state capital and raised slogans against the CEC Gyanesh Kumar. They also carried posters along with them stating “arrest Gyanesh Kumar for treason” and “Vote-Chori magic trick exposed”. 

The youth Congress workers alleged that despite the objections raised by the two Election Commissioners regarding deletion of voters’ names, access to the voter database and other matters, no proper inquiry was conducted into the matter.

“It has come to light that written complaints were made 14 times in 10 months by two Election Commissioners regarding the SIR process, but no proper inquiry was conducted. There is still no clarity on what will happen to the people whose names were deleted in the SIR process and how their names will be added again. There is still no discussion about it. This makes it clear that Gyanesh Kumar is completely a BJP person behind the scenes and is a BJP-backed individual. There should be an inquiry into his tenure,” said Ankit Dubey, Bhopal district president, Youth Congress.  

He added, “If such irregularities are being committed while serving as an Election Commissioner, how can we expect the elections to be conducted fairly when the voter list itself is not completely accurate? What guarantee is there that the elections will be conducted impartially? We have come here to protest against the Election Commission over this issue.” 

The Youth Congress worker further alleged that the deletion of names of eligible voters during the SIR process raised questions over the transparency and fairness of the electoral process.

“This is the kind of irregularity being committed by Gyanesh Kumar and its direct benefit is going to the BJP. We completely oppose this because as long as people like Gyanesh Kumar continue to misuse their position, transparency and fairness will completely disappear from the country,” Dubey said.

Meanwhile, Youth Congress state secretary Mohit Saxena alleged that the reported internal differences by two Election Commissioners showed that “vote theft” was taking place in the country.

“According to a news report, two Election Commissioners raised objections 14 times over a period of 10 months. This proves that vote theft was taking place in the country. Our leader Rahul Gandhi has repeatedly alleged that governments are being formed by stealing votes. As per the report, this becomes evident. Now, our move will be to hold aggressive protests at different places, demanding the resignation of Gyanesh Kumar,” Saxena said. (ANI)