Protesters in Hyderabad demand CEC Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation, scrapping of SIR

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Demonstrators stage a protest at Dharna Chowk, Indira Park, Hyderabad, on Saturday (October 3, 2026) demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and opposing the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. | Photo Credit: RAMAKRISHNA G

A protest demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar and the scrapping of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls was held at Dharna Chowk in Hyderabad on Saturday (October 3, 2026), with demonstrators alleging that the exercise could exclude large sections of voters from the electoral rolls.

The protest began with a Hindi rendition of Bella Ciao, the Italian anti-resistance song, with protesters dubbing SIR as ‘Special Intensive Resistance’. The demonstration was organised by 12 organisations, including the Telangana unit of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) and the Telangana People’s Front (TPF).

The protesters raised three demands, the resignation of Mr. Gyanesh Kumar, selection of the Chief Election Commissioner through a process that includes the Chief Justice of India (CJI), and scrapping of the SIR exercise.

Speakers at the protest gathering alleged that the SIR was the National Register of Citizens (NRC) through the back door. The allegations came amid a wider national controversy over the deletion of names from electoral rolls during the revision exercise. The protesters claimed that 13 crore names had been excluded from draft electoral rolls across States and Union Territories.

M.V. Reddy, a TPF member, described the scale of the deletions as unprecedented, saying that while several electoral revisions had been carried out in the past, none had resulted in such a large number of names being removed.

Akunuri Murali, former chairperson of the Telangana Education Commission, read out the Preamble to the Constitution during the protest, with demonstrators raising their right hands and repeating the words after him. Sunita Regunta of the National Alliance of People’s Movements said the organisation had been following the SIR process since it began in Bihar ahead of the State’s elections. She alleged that the exercise was disproportionately affecting people without the resources or means to navigate the process and was removing them from electoral rolls.

Although the protest was scheduled to begin at 10 a.m., people arrived gradually, with the gathering growing to around 100 participants by 11 a.m. at Dharna Chowk.

Sameer of the Students’ Federation of India (SFI) drew a parallel with the protests over the NEET question-paper leak, saying the mobilisation of Gen Z over the issue had demonstrated the impact of sustained public pressure. He called for similar mobilisation against the SIR process.

Usman, general secretary of the Association for Protection of Civil Rights (APCR), said a large section of society continued to remain unconcerned about developments in the country. He alleged that the SIR could exclude people who sought to strengthen democratic institutions and stressed that voting was a fundamental part of democratic participation.

Sreeja of the Disha Students Organisation said SIR was normally intended to increase voter enrolment but was instead being used to delete voters. She also alleged that the ruling party had concluded that Gen Z would not support it following the police lathicharge during protests in Delhi.

Kancha Ilaiah, Dalit rights activist and former Professor of political science at Osmania University, recalled the functioning of the Election Commission during the Emergency. He said the institution had remained independent even then, pointing to the subsequent election of Janata Party as an example of the importance of an independent electoral process.

Cyber security activist Srinivas Kodali raised concerns about linking different databases through the SIR process. He questioned how voter identities could be reliably established when Aadhaar itself had not been properly created for everyone, and alleged that the process could eventually be incorporated into an NRC-like exercise. Mr. Kodali also said the movement against SIR should continue even if Mr. Kumar resigned, pointing to the upcoming Census and the wider implications of linking citizens’ lives and identities to government databases.

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