INDIA bloc leaders march to EC office in Delhi, seek rollback of SIR

The memorandum sought restoration of names of all eligible voters excluded from the electoral rolls, withdrawal of notices issued to citizens, resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and a return to ballot-paper voting.

Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee (DPCC) leader and former Delhi minister Haroon Yusuf said the bloc would continue its agitation over the issue.

“The way the Election Commission is behaving, it is as if there is no democracy. You cannot say that he is homeless so he will not vote,” he said.

Yusuf alleged that the bloc had raised concerns over the exclusion of voters and said the agitation would continue. “People have woken up now. This agitation will continue. We will fight it out,” he said.

CPI leader Prof Dinesh C Varshney demanded that the SIR be scrapped and alleged large-scale deletion of names from Delhi’s electoral rolls.

“SIR has to be scrapped. It should be scrapped,” Varshney said, claiming that 47 lakh voters had been deleted and 33 lakh people had received notices. He alleged that deletions had affected several constituencies and reiterated the demand for elections through ballot papers.

According to figures cited in the INDIA bloc’s memorandum, 47,56,722 electors, or 32.78 per cent of Delhi’s voters, were deleted from the draft roll, while 33,12,919 citizens were issued notices over discrepancies. The parties said the scale of the deletions raised questions over voting rights and the transparency of the electoral process.

The memorandum also referred to reports of objections raised by two Election Commissioners over aspects of the SIR and electoral process, and sought the President’s intervention to protect the voting rights of citizens.

The protest also saw participation from voters who claimed their names had been removed from the electoral rolls.

“I have voted in all the elections since 2014…But this time when I checked, my vote has been deducted. I want to ask Gyanesh Kumar, who is the CEC of our country, what is my fault?” said Vishal Lohani, a resident of the area.

The INDIA bloc leaders said they would continue their protests if their demands were not addressed, calling for restoration of eligible voters’ names and cancellation of the SIR process.

The police detained Delhi Congress president Devender Yadav and several INDIA bloc leaders on Wednesday during a protest at Jantar Mantar demanding the resignation and arrest of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, along with other INDIA bloc MPs, also participated in the protest.

Yadav, Delhi Congress in-charge Kazi Nizamuddin and Danish Abrar, along with several party workers, were detained and taken to the Sector 23 police station in Dwarka, the party said.

Yadav said every arrest and alleged “dictatorial action” would be accounted for and asserted that the Congress’ fight against “vote thieves” would continue. “Arrests cannot suppress our voice,” Yadav said.