Congress Vows to Keep Up Protests Until CEC Gyanesh Kumar Goes, Launches ‘Vote Bachao, Desh Bachao’ Drive
KC Venugopal says a ‘Vote Rakshak’ will be posted at every booth to trace deleted voters. The CPI has also sought the CEC’s resignation after Kerala ordered a vigilance inquiry.
The Congress will not end its nationwide agitation against Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar until he is removed from office and steps are taken to make the electoral system fair and transparent, party general secretary KC Venugopal said on Sunday, 8 November.
Speaking to reporters, Venugopal said protests were being held across states and districts, with only a short break expected over Diwali. He described the party’s 1 November rally in New Delhi as one of the strongest protests in the country and said the campaign was aimed at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah. The party, he said, would not abandon the fight midway.
A ‘Vote Rakshak’ at every booth
Venugopal announced that the next phase would be a six-week, panchayat-level campaign called ‘Vote Bachao, Desh Bachao’ (Save the Vote, Save the Nation). Under it, the party plans to appoint a ‘Vote Rakshak’, or guardian, at every polling booth. These volunteers will scan the electoral rolls, find people whose names have been deleted, and visit their homes to help them get re-enrolled.
He alleged that deletions from the rolls could rob poor people not only of their vote but also of government benefits, which he claimed were increasingly being tied to voter ID cards. The Congress is also trying to coordinate joint campaigns with other Opposition parties and will raise the issue in the coming session of Parliament, he said.
Vigilance inquiry adds to the pressure
The demand for the CEC’s exit has grown louder since Kerala Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala ordered a vigilance inquiry against Gyanesh Kumar. The complaint, filed by a contractor, alleges that Kumar demanded a bribe of Rs 2 crore in connection with a Rs 17-crore project while he was the state’s Public Works Secretary.
CPI national secretary K Ramakrishna has demanded Kumar’s immediate resignation and asked for the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls to be halted. He said no sitting CEC had faced such allegations before and accused the Prime Minister and the Home Minister of shielding him.
The allegations against the CEC have not been proven.
Featured image: The Electronic Digital Display Board at the office of the Election Commission of India displaying the results of General Election-2009 for the public, at Nirvachan Sadan, in New Delhi on May 16, 2009.jpg by Election Commission of India, GODL-India, via Wikimedia Commons.
Sources
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