Agartala: Agartala: INDIA bloc will hold a protest in Agartala on Oct 30 to demand the withdrawal of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, removal of chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and steps to safeguard electoral fairness and democracy.CPM state secretary and INDIA bloc leader in Tripura Jitendra Chaudhury, accompanied by Tripura Pradesh Congress Committee president Asish Kumar Saha, said on Saturday that the protest would start at 11am with a gathering at Orient Chowmuhani. The protesters would then march to the office of the chief electoral officer and submit a memorandum.The bloc’s four demands are the removal of Kumar, cancellation of the SIR, a review and repeal of legal provisions concerning the Election Commission to strengthen its independence and democratic safeguards, and opposition to legal protections granted to the chief election commissioner.Chaudhury urged opposition parties to unite in defending democracy, the Constitution and citizens’ voting rights.Tripura Congress president Saha also questioned the Election Commission’s functioning and the SIR. He said concerns had been raised about the panel under Kumar, and claimed major decisions were made without adequately considering the views of the other two commissioners.
