Congress takes to streets across India demanding election chief’s resignation

The Congress Party, India’s main opposition party, today (25 September) staged protests in several states demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over the Election Commission’s revision of voter lists.

Demonstrations were reported in Delhi, Bihar, Assam, Punjab, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.

The demand for Kumar’s resignation intensified after The Indian Express reported that two Election Commissioners had objected to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter lists. Opposition parties have alleged that the revision could benefit Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

In Guwahati, Assam Congress leader Gaurav Gogoi led a march from the party’s state headquarters, Rajiv Bhawan, towards the Chief Electoral Officer’s office, where protesters planned to burn an effigy of Kumar.

Gogoi and several senior party leaders were detained after they tried to cross police barricades, police said.

Police put up barricades near Rajiv Bhawan, which Gogoi and other protesting leaders attempted to cross, following which they were detained, police said.

In Delhi, police detained All India Students’ Association leader Neha Bora, Yogendra Yadav, Anjali Bhardwaj and Dipankar Bhattacharya after they gathered at Jantar Mantar to protest against the SIR and demand Kumar’s resignation.

In Punjab, Congress activists led by state unit chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring also staged a protest to press the same demand.

Police used water cannons on protesters who tried to march towards the Election Commission office in Chandigarh. The protesters attempted to cross police barricades, but police stopped them.