Vijayawada, Sep 25 (PTI) APCC vice president Kolanukonda Sivaji on Friday demanded the sacking, arrest and prosecution of CEC Gyanesh Kumar for alleged irregularities pertaining to the SIR.
Leading a Congress protest against the CEC in Vijayawada today, Sivaji demanded an independent inquiry into alleged irregularities in the electoral process, immediate stoppage of the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls and the restoration of the “13 crore votes deleted” by the poll body through the SIR.
“Shivaji demanded the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and called for his arrest and prosecution. He demanded an independent inquiry into all alleged irregularities in the electoral process, immediate stoppage of the SIR process, and restoration of the 13 crore votes alleged to have been deleted,” a press release from Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee said.
The opposition leader demanded that the voter data-entry process should not be centralised in a manner that allegedly renders the locally functioning Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) ineffective.
Sivaji wanted the powers of the Election Commission to be decentralised to ensure “greater transparency and accountability.”
Questioning alleged software-related restrictions preventing eligible citizens who have attained the age of 18 years from exercising their right to register as voters, he demanded the poll body to explain why such provisions were permitted “without making corresponding amendments to the statutory election rules,” and at whose direction such decisions were taken.
He demanded the courts to take “suo motu” cognisance of the allegations relating to “vote theft” and conduct an appropriate judicial inquiry to ascertain the facts and responsibility.
Further, he called on Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, opposition leader and YSRCP supremo YS Jagan Mohan Reddy and deputy chief minister Pawan Kalyan to publicly state their respective positions on the allegations concerning the EC and the electoral process in the southern state.
As part of the protest, Congress leaders carried banners which read: “Gyanesh Kumar must be sacked and arrested for indulging in vote chori (vote theft) in favour of BJP.” Sivaji and other senior Congress leaders raised slogans against Kumar.
(PTI News)
