Congress demands removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over ‘electoral irregularities’

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APCC leaders staging a protest demanding action against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, at Dharna Chowk in Vijayawada on Friday. | Photo Credit: K.V.S. Giri

Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) leaders on Friday staged a protest at Dharna Chowk in Vijayawada, demanding the removal and arrest of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over “irregularities in the electoral process.”

The protest was organised at the directions of APCC president Y.S. Sharmila as part of a wider campaign over the alleged irregularities in the revision of rolls and electoral processes.

Addressing the protesters, APCC vice-president Kolanukonda Shivaji demanded an independent inquiry into the alleged irregularities and sought immediate halt to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

Mr. Shivaji questioned the alleged centralisation of voter data entry, saying it should not undermine the role of Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) functioning at the local level, and called for decentralisation of the Election Commission’s functioning to improve transparency and accountability.

He also raised concerns over software-related restrictions allegedly preventing eligible citizens who had attained 18 years of age from registering as voters, and sought an explanation from the Election Commission the basis for such provisions.

He said the courts should take suo motu cognisance of the allegations of “vote theft” and order a judicial inquiry to establish the facts and fix responsibility.

He called upon TDP national president and Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, YSRCP president Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy and Jana Sena Party president K. Pawan Kalyan to state their positions on the allegations.

Vijayawada City Congress president Naraharishetty Narasimha Rao alleged that the BJP-led alliance had benefited from the “vote theft” and that the Election Commission had been used to facilitate electoral manipulation.

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