Congress protests across Maharashtra, demands Gyanesh Kumar's resignation

Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar has come under fire over allegations of corrupt functioning in the Election Commission of India and of working in favour of the ruling BJP. Over disagreements with the two other election commissioners regarding changes made during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process, the Congress held protests today across major cities in Maharashtra, including Pune, Solapur and Nagpur.

A report published last week on the matter had caused a stir across the country. It is alleged that despite 14 objections being raised over the SIR process, Gyanesh Kumar did not take any concrete action. This allegation was made by the two other election commissioners, Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi. Serious questions have been raised about Gyanesh Kumar since this dispute within the Election Commission came to light.

Amid these allegations, workers of the Pune city and district Congress committee took to the streets today, raising slogans against the Election Commission and the central government. They demanded Gyanesh Kumar's resignation. Congress workers protested outside district collector and divisional commissioner offices in several major cities including Pune, Solapur, Mumbai and Nagpur. The Congress has warned that if the Election Commission's functioning is not reformed, the agitation will be intensified further.

Congress leader Nana Patole has also recently launched a sharp attack on the Election Commission and the BJP. Through this agitation, Nana Patole's Congress demanded that elections be held in a fair environment, and that Gyanesh Kumar resign immediately to protect democracy and the Constitution, failing which the central government itself should remove him from office.

In Maharashtra, around 2.07 crore voters' names are missing from the draft electoral roll following the SIR process. However, the Election Commission has clarified that this figure should not be treated as a final deletion count. It includes deceased voters, voters who have permanently migrated and voters not found at their registered address.

Meanwhile, Nationalist Congress Party MLA Rohit Pawar has claimed that the number of voters removed in Maharashtra could eventually rise to around 3 crore. He said several questions have been raised over the scrutiny of the SIR process.