GURGAON: The Congress took its campaign against chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar to the streets of Gurgaon, with party workers staging a protest on Monday and demanding his resignation as well as an independent review of electoral-roll changes and decisions taken by the Election Commission.The protest, led by Gurgaon rural Congress president Vardhan Yadav and urban unit chief Pankaj Davar, began at the party office in Kaman Sarai and culminated in Sadar Bazar.Workers raised slogans against the Election Commission and the Centre and carried an effigy of the CEC.Haryana Congress in-charge Sanjay Dutt, state party president Rao Narender Singh and former MP Raj Babbar joined the protest.Dutt said questions being raised about the functioning and impartiality of the Election Commission could not be ignored and called for an independent inquiry into decisions taken during Kumar’s tenure.He also sought a review of election-related decisions and electoral-roll changes, saying those found responsible for any criminal wrongdoing should face action under law.Singh cited Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s allegations concerning electoral rolls, Form 6 and the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.He alleged that large numbers of voters had been deleted from electoral rolls and demanded that the Election Commission make the relevant data and details of the revision process public.“If eligible voters have been wrongly deleted or added, it is a serious issue concerning the democratic process,” Singh said.Babbar said the party had been raising questions about electoral rolls and the election process and that the Election Commission should provide factual answers to allegations that could affect public confidence in the electoral system.The protest came days after the Congress called for nationwide demonstrations seeking Kumar’s removal and an independent review of electoral-roll changes made during his tenure.The demand followed reports of objections raised by two other election commissioners over several electoral-roll-related decisions.The Election Commission has maintained that differences of view within the poll panel are part of institutional deliberations and that its orders have legal sanction and follow statutory procedures.Davar said the Election Commission must respond with facts to serious questions concerning voter lists, while Yadav said the issue was about protecting voters’ rights and public confidence in the electoral process.
