Ludhiana, October 8
On the INDIA Bloc’s call, protests demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar were held nationwide. In Ludhiana, parties allied with the Bloc staged a demonstration outside the Deputy Commissioner’s Office. Later, effigies of Gyanesh Kumar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah were also burnt. The protest was organised by the Congress, CPI, CPI (M) and CPI (ML) Liberation with the support of the RMPI.
From the Congress, Former President of the District Congress Committee, Ludhiana (Urban) and former Chairman of the Punjab Large Industrial Development Board, Pawan Dewan, attended the protest. Addressing the gathering, Dewan demanded the resignation of CEC Gyanesh Kumar, stating that nearly 13 crore votes have been “wrongly deleted” nationwide under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), accusing the Election Commission of colluding with the Modi government to tilt Assembly elections in West Bengal, Bihar and Maharashtra.
Dewan thundered that deleting crores of voters’ names is nothing short of a betrayal of the people, robbing citizens of their democratic rights. He declared that the Election Commission must embody transparency and impartiality, yet alleged that Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar has brazenly acted to favour Narendra Modi.
Meanwhile, citing a 23 September report in The Indian Express, the leaders at the protest said that the other two Election Commissioners had raised serious questions regarding the functioning of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. They claimed that the two Election Commissioners had recorded written dissent and objections on at least 14 occasions concerning voter registration, deletion and restoration of names, and the SIR process. They further alleged that several important decisions were taken without their consent.
The leaders said that today’s protest is only the beginning. A meeting of INDIA Bloc parties and other allied organisations will soon be convened in Ludhiana to decide the next phase of the movement. They announced that the agitation against the Modi government would be intensified and protests would be organised on a larger scale.
Among others who addressed the rally were Chamkaur Singh Barmi — CPI; Balbir Singh and B.S. Sahi — CPI(M); J.P. Narayan — CPI(ML) Liberation and Jagdish Chand — RMPI. The stage was conducted by CPI leader M.S. Bhatia.
Other prominent leaders present at the rally included Monu Kinda, Gurjit Singh Jagpal, Deepak Hans, Sabi Toor (former Councillor), Kamal Mehta, Gurnam Singh Kaler and Jaswinder Singh Osahan — Congress; Ramesh Rattan and Kewal Singh Banwait — CPI; Dr. Gurwinder Singh — CPI(M); and Raghbir Singh Bainipal and Paramjit Singh — RMPI.