New Delhi, Sep 25 Several Congress leaders, including Delhi unit chief Devender Yadav, were detained on Friday after party workers were stopped from marching towards the Election Commission office here during a protest demanding CEC Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation over the SIR of electoral rolls.
According to an official statement, Congress workers gathered at the party’s Rajiv Bhawan office on Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Marg and attempted to march towards Nirvachan Sadan, but were stopped by police barricades. Yadav and other senior leaders were taken to the I P Estate police station and later released.
While being taken away, Yadav said the Congress would continue its protest until Kumar was removed from office.
The Delhi Congress alleged that the special intensive revision (SIR) exercise had caused difficulties for residents of JJ clusters and unauthorised colonies, particularly those unable to produce documents sought by the poll authorities within the stipulated period.
Yadav alleged that the exercise created two categories of voters, claiming that ordinary electors were being made to resolve discrepancies, while prominent people, including Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, had officials visiting their residences over similar issues.
“In the SIR process, in which there should have been complete transparency, non-discrimination, one India, one law and equal rights, the Election Commission has divided the country, especially Delhi, into two classes,” he said.
The Congress leader also alleged that discrepancies in details such as parents’ ages, spellings and addresses could be the result of errors in computer-generated data and should not lead to hardship for voters.
Yadav claimed that out of around 1.45 crore electors in Delhi, 47.6 lakh people had their names deleted from the draft rolls, while 31.6 lakh voters were served notices over discrepancies.
He alleged that the Election Commission was “deleting and adding names” to electoral rolls without adequate transparency and demanded an independent review of decisions and changes made during Kumar’s tenure.
“Winning an election by stealing votes is treason,” Yadav said, alleging that the electoral roll exercise was being used to help the BJP form governments.
He also accused the BJP of trying to undermine the electoral process and said the Congress would continue its agitation until Kumar was removed and arrested.
The protest was held a day after the Congress directed its state units to march to election offices across the country on September 25, demanding Kumar’s arrest and removal and an independent review of electoral roll changes made during his tenure.
The opposition’s protest comes after a media report claiming that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had raised objections on at least 14 occasions over 10 months to decisions and orders concerning the SIR exercise, including four objections on a single day.
Police and paramilitary personnel were deployed along Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Marg and outside Nirvachan Sadan, with barricades and detention buses placed at the protest sites.
(PTI News)
