Several detained as anti-SIR protesters march towards EC office, demand Gyanesh Kumar's resignation

NEW DELHI: A large number of protesters, including representatives from the Samyukt Kisan Morcha, trade unions, student bodies and Left parties, took out a protest march in the capital on Friday, demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and the withdrawal of the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls.

Delhi Police detained several protesters as they tried to march towards the headquarters of the Election Commission of India (ECI) on Ashoka Road in central Delhi, putting up barricades on the road.

The march, called by the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) and the Delhi coordination committee of People Against SIR, a people's collective, began near the Gole Dak Khana, a few hundred metres from the ECI headquarters, with participants carrying the national flag and banners demanding an end to the electoral roll revision exercise.

The march was halted near the Bangla Sahib Gurdwara, where police put up barricades.

The protesters raised slogans against the chief election commissioner, including “Gyanesh Kumar, resign”, “Halt SIR” and “Won't tolerate vote theft”, alleging that the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise led to the deletion of numerous voters from the electoral rolls.

The participants, including students, youth and farmers, were joined by senior CPI(M) leader Brinda Karat, and members of the All India Democratic Women's Association (AIDWA) and the All India Democratic Students' Organisation (AIDSO), among others.

The Krantikari Yuva Sangathan (KYS) and the Students' Federation of India (SFI) had extended their support to the march, with activists from Delhi, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh participating.

The protest was part of a wider mobilisation against the revision of electoral rolls, with opposition parties and civil society groups alleging that the exercise could lead to the exclusion of eligible voters.

The Election Commission has maintained that the revision is aimed at ensuring the accuracy of electoral rolls.

"We demand that SIR should be rolled back, Gyanesh Kumar should resign, the voter list should be rectified, and the government should apologise,” Yudhvir Singh, national general secretary of the Bharatiya Kisan Union, said.

Veteran CPI(M) leader Karat said the agitation would continue until the SIR exercise is scrapped.

“Our main issue is to stop SIR, stop the vote theft. Voting is a constitutional right, and you are attacking it. New evidence is coming every day, yet you are doing this,” she said.

CPI Rajya Sabha MP P Sandosh Kumar said the agitation would be intensified in the coming days.

“The agitation will continue… Gyanesh Kumar must resign; no one can save him. We will intensify our movement in the coming days. The prime minister’s rhetoric cannot save Gyanesh Kumar; he should go. We are ready to face any eventuality,” Kumar said.

“This is not about reclaiming Jantar Mantar; this is about saving democracy and the country,” a protester said.

Another protester said that since Jantar Mantar had been denotified as a protest site, every street in the country would become a Jantar Mantar, pointing to demonstrations announced by several organisations across India.

According to the People against SIR, demonstrations have been planned in 88 cities across 18 states, involving 145 organisations, with programmes scheduled from Friday until November 1.

The opposition parties and civil society groups have been demanding Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation, alleging that the SIR exercise could disenfranchise numerous eligible voters.

Earlier this month, INDIA bloc leaders had marched towards the ECI headquarters and the Supreme Court and met President Droupadi Murmu to raise their concerns over the voter roll revision.

The organisers of Friday’s protest have demanded the scrapping of the SIR, restoration of voting rights to eligible citizens whose names were deleted and the removal and prosecution of Kumar.

More than 300 organisations have joined the campaign, they said.