Shillong, Sep 25: The Meghalaya Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) on Friday took out a protest march demanding immediate removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, alleging irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
A procession led by MPCC President and former Lok Sabha MP Vincent H Pala began at Congress Bhavan and culminated near the Additional Secretariat, where party workers burnt the effigy of the CEC.
The rally saw participation from Mahila Congress and Youth Congress workers who alleged large-scale deletion and exclusion of voters and accused the Election Commission of being misused to undermine the electoral process.
Addressing protesters, Pala alleged that Kumar had “manipulated the system” and ignored objections raised by the two other Election Commissioners over the past 10 months.
“The BJP is manipulating the mandate of the public. In Haryana, Congress was supposed to win, in Maharashtra, Congress was supposed to win, and in West Bengal, there was huge manipulation with deletion of voters from electoral rolls,” Pala alleged.
“We demand that he should resign immediately. After his resignation, there should be a commission of inquiry against him. We demand that he should be arrested,” he said, adding, “In the last 10 months, 14 objections have been raised by the two other Election Commissioners, but he bulldozed all these with the help of the BJP.
“The party reiterated its demand for electoral transparency, accountability and protection of citizens’ voting rights.
