Jharkhand Congress plans state-wide protests to demand Chief Election Commissioner's resignation

Protest Plans

The Jharkhand Congress will surround the office of the Chief Electoral Officer in Ranchi and hold protests across all district headquarters on Monday. The party is demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and aiming to protect democracy and citizen voting rights.

Allegations Against EC

State Congress president Keshav Mahto Kamlesh accused the Election Commission of working like an agent for the BJP and giving unfair advantages to help the party win assembly polls in Bihar and West Bengal. Kamlesh claimed that the EC misused the SIR process and that traditional party voters, such as Dalits and minorities, are being targeted.

Internal Objections And Voter Rolls

The decision to protest follows a media report stating that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi objected on record at least 14 times over ten months to decisions made without their knowledge. Their objections involved the amendment of voter registration Form 6, changes to voter lists, and centralized control over the electoral database. Congress Legislature Party leader Pradeep Yadav further alleged that the CEC crossed its authority, altered Form-6 to make new voter registration difficult, and removed the names of 13 crore voters to target anti-BJP citizens.