JAMMU, Sept 25: Scores of Congress workers and leaders were detained on Friday after the party staged a protest outside the Election Commission office in Jammu, demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. The demonstration was part of the Congress’ nationwide protest campaign against the poll panel.
Congress MP and AICC general secretary Dr Syed Naseer Hussain led the protest, which was attended by several senior party leaders, including former ministers and legislators. The protesters raised slogans against Kumar, burnt his effigy and attempted to march towards and gherao the Election Commission office.
A heavy deployment of police and paramilitary personnel was made around the office to prevent the protesters from proceeding further. Brief scuffles were reported between protesters and security personnel, following which several Congress workers and leaders, including senior leaders, were detained and taken away in buses.
“We have been detained in large numbers. They were taken away in buses. We demand the CEC’s resignation. That is why we held the protest here today,” former Deputy Chief Minister Tara Chand told reporters.
Congress leader and former minister Chaudhary Lal Singh said protests were being held across the country against what the party described as irregularities in the electoral process. The Congress has also sought an independent review of decisions and electoral roll changes made during Kumar’s tenure.
The protest followed reports concerning objections raised by Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi over decisions and orders related to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. According to The Indian Express, the two commissioners had recorded objections on at least 14 occasions over the past 10 months, including concerns related to Form 6 and electoral-roll data management.
The Congress had directed its state units to organise marches to State Election Commission offices on September 25 as part of the first phase of its nationwide campaign, with district-level protests scheduled for September 28. (Agencies)