Bihar Congress, RJD protest against CEC Gyanesh Kumar over SIR issues; police use water canons

Patna, Sep 25 (IANS) The Bihar Congress staged a protest march in Patna on Friday against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and over issues related to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls. The RJD also staged a demonstration in Patna over the issue. 

Police used water cannons to stop the protesters as they attempted to proceed towards the State Election Commission office.

The protest march was organised from R-Block to the State Election Commission office.

A large number of Congress leaders and workers participated in the demonstration, raising slogans against the Election Commission and demanding the resignation of the CEC.

Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee president Rajesh Ram said the protest was linked to the questions being raised by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi regarding the electoral process and voter lists.

“The protest against the Election Commission stems from the fact that Rahul Gandhi was consistently exposing them... today it has been proven that governments in Bihar, Haryana, and Maharashtra were formed through vote theft. The Election Commission has not yet responded to Rahul Gandhi,” Ram said.

These allegations reflect the Congress party's political position and have not been established as facts by the Election Commission or a court.

Tension was reported during the demonstration as Congress workers and police personnel came face-to-face.

Some protesters climbed the barricades while carrying an effigy of the CEC, leading to a commotion at the site.

Police subsequently used water cannons to disperse the protesters.

Congress workers and leaders also demanded the removal and arrest of CEC Gyanesh Kumar during the demonstration.

Purnea MP Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav also criticised the Election Commission amid the nationwide Congress protests.

“They have committed an injustice against 13 crore people in Bengal, Bihar, and Assam. How can they simply be allowed to get away with it?” Yadav said.

The RJD, a key constituent of the Mahagathbandhan, also staged a demonstration in Patna over the issue.

RJD leaders and workers took to the streets and raised questions over the functioning of the Election Commission, particularly in connection with the revision of electoral rolls and the electoral process.

The protests in Bihar are part of a broader political campaign by Opposition parties questioning the Election Commission's handling of voter lists and the Special Intensive Revision.

The protests come amid a recent report by a national English daily newspaper alleging that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had formally recorded objections at least 14 times over a period of 10 months regarding decisions and procedures of the poll panel.

The reported objections covered issues including voter registration and deletion, restoration of names, changes to Form 6, new voters and the management of electoral-roll data.

The report said some of the objections concerned decisions that the two commissioners stated had been taken without their knowledge or approval.

The objections reportedly included concerns about the centralisation of electoral-roll database controls and aspects of the SIR process.

The Election Commission has rejected the suggestion that the reported objections demonstrate a lack of consensus within the three-member poll panel.

According to the Commission, all decisions taken by it, including those related to the SIR, had the approval of all three Election Commissioners and were reached unanimously.

The Commission said that highlighting individual internal notes without considering the broader body of decisions and approvals presents only one part of its decision-making process.

The controversy over the functioning of the Election Commission and the revision of electoral rolls continues, with Opposition parties demanding greater accountability while the poll panel maintains that its decisions have been taken in accordance with its established procedures.

--IANS

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