Kharge at CWC demands CEC's removal, Modi's resignation over SIR 'irregularities'

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Tuesday demanded the immediate removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, citing alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, and asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to resign on moral grounds for what he described as pressure on the poll panel chief.

Speaking at a meeting of the Congress Working Committee in Delhi, Mr. Kharge said the party would take to the streets and raise the matter in Parliament.

He placed five demands before the committee: that all data on changes to the electoral rolls be made public; that every voter whose name has been deleted be given a chance to appeal; and that all political parties receive the rolls in a simple format and in time. He also sought an independent, time-bound inquiry wherever serious anomalies are found, and said the poll process should be made transparent so that no one feels information is being withheld.

"The two Election Commissioners have themselves termed the CEC's actions as 'arbitrary and unreasonable', and the entire nation now knows that he has been trying to help the ruling party. In such a situation, he does not have the right to be in his position and should be removed immediately," Mr. Kharge said.

"Together with this, the Prime Minister should also resign on moral grounds for 'pressuring' the CEC," he said in his inaugural address.

Mr. Kharge urged the CWC to pledge itself to transparency in the electoral rolls and an impartial poll process, saying institutions should be independent and every Indian's vote protected. He described this as the core of the Constitution and the soul of Indian democracy, adding that the party would not fall short in that responsibility.

He thanked Congress workers and leaders for standing behind Rahul Gandhi, who he said had raised the alleged irregularities and highlighted the CEC's role in supporting the BJP.