Gorakhpur: The district and metropolitan units of Congress staged a protest march in Gorakhpur on Monday against alleged irregularities in the electoral roll revision process under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise.Party workers raised slogans alleging “vote theft” and “election theft” and burnt an effigy of chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. Former district Congress president Nirmala Paswan was also present.District Congress president Rajesh Tiwari said party workers marched to raise objections over alleged discrepancies in the electoral rolls. He claimed the Election Commission had acknowledged shortcomings in the revision process and announced corrective measures on several issues, which he described as an admission of irregularities in the preparation of electoral rolls.Responding to criticism from BJP leaders over Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s allegations concerning the electoral process, Tiwari accused the ruling party of defending the Election Commission for political reasons.The protest march culminated at the district magistrate’s office, where Congress leaders reiterated their demand for a transparent and error-free revision of electoral rolls.The Election Commission’s SIR process covers electoral-roll revision, including claims and objections. Gorakhpur’s district election office has published SIR-related voter lists and records of claims and objections on its official portal.
