The Congress Party intensified its nationwide campaign against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar today, staging protests at district election offices in Imphal East, Imphal West, Thoubal, Kakching and Churachandpur, where party workers burnt his effigy and demanded his arrest over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
The protests were organised under the Congress campaign against alleged “Vote Chori” and concerns over the deletion of names from electoral rolls.
In Imphal East, large number of Congress workers thronged to the office of the District Election Office at Porompat, where they burnt an effigy of Gyanesh Kumar despite attempts by police to stop them. MPCC member Th. Oxford Singh alleged that the SIR exercise had raised serious questions over the protection of voting rights and the functioning of the electoral machinery.
Similar protests were held at the District Election Office at Lamphel by Imphal West District Congress Committees I and II. The protesters, led by MPCC leaders and joined by Youth Congress, Mahila Congress and Seva Dal members, burnt an effigy of the CEC and raised slogans demanding his arrest.
At Thoubal, Congress workers marched from the party office at Athokpam along National Highway 102 before returning to the District Election Office. The protesters burnt an effigy of Gyanesh Kumar and raised slogans including “Save Democracy”, “Protect Voter, Protect India”, “Arrest CEC Gyanesh Kumar” and “Our Vote, Our Right”.
Retired Colonel Md. Shahid Khan, who participated in the protest, referred to reports of objections raised by Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi over decisions concerning the electoral-roll exercise and demanded action against the CEC. He also made allegations concerning centralised control of the election server, which could not be independently verified.
At Kakching, the District Congress Committee marched to the election office and burnt an effigy of Gyanesh Kumar. The protest was led by former MLA Dr E. Dwijamani Singh, PCC member Ksh. Kennedy Singh, DCC president Rahaman Cheshaba and Youth Congress leaders.
In Churachandpur, the DCC staged a district-level protest demanding free, fair and transparent elections and greater accountability in the functioning of the Election Commission. DCC president Mangkholien Gangte, MPCC Working President Manga Vaiphei and other Congress leaders participated.
The protests followed reports that more than 13 crore names were excluded from draft electoral rolls across 30 States and Union Territories during the SIR exercise. Reports have also highlighted 14 instances in which Election Commissioners Sandhu and Joshi recorded objections over decisions and orders related to electoral-roll management.
The coordinated protests across five districts marked a further escalation of the Congress campaign in Manipur over the electoral-roll controversy.