Left parties, SKM and trade unions intensify demand for CEC Gyanesh Kumar's removal

A coalition of Left parties, farmer organisations, trade unions and student groups has decided to intensify its campaign seeking the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, holding him responsible for what it calls illegal actions that led to the removal of millions of voters from electoral rolls across several States during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR).

Addressing reporters on Saturday, CPI(ML) general secretary Dipankara Bhattacharya said his party had conducted a door-to-door survey in parts of Bihar where large-scale deletions were reported during the 2025 SIR, and had found that a significant number of voters had been struck off incorrectly.

In the Aigaon and Ziradei constituencies, where the party lost by 95 and 2,626 votes respectively, it surveyed 204 voters whose names had been deleted before the SIR across three booths and found 46 of them, or 22.5%, still living in their villages. In four booths, the survey found that 77 of 665 voters deleted during the SIR were still residents. Mr. Bhattacharya said more than 2,000 voters could have been wrongfully excluded across Aigaon.

In Ziradei, of the nine booths surveyed, 122 of 665 voters deleted during the SIR were still residing in the village, while 15 of 189 voters deleted before the SIR were also found there.

The All India Students Association (AISA) alleged that the Election Commission of India was attempting to keep members of 'Gen Z' out of the electoral process by editing the existing Form 6, the application for inclusion of a name in the electoral roll. AISA president Neha said the Delhi Police were not permitting protests in and around Jantar Mantar and that force was used to suppress youth and student demonstrations demanding Mr. Kumar's resignation. She said the SIR process undermined the universal right to vote and that the exercise to update electoral rolls was not genuinely taking place.

The Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) demanded Mr. Kumar's immediate resignation, saying he must take responsibility for the disenfranchisement and disentitlement of working people caused by the ongoing SIR. In a statement, CITU general secretary Elamaram Kareem said most of those affected were poor, marginalised and largely migrant workers forced to travel to enrol as voters and lose earnings through no fault of their own. He also warned that provisions of the Labour Codes making Central Government-prescribed identity cards mandatory for enrolment and social security benefits could lead to the EPIC card being prescribed as identity proof in place of Aadhaar, potentially pushing those excluded from electoral rolls out of the limited social security net.

The Samyukt Kisan Morcha demanded Mr. Kumar's immediate removal and prosecution, describing his actions as CEC as unilateral and authoritarian and amounting to treason. It said he should be prosecuted in accordance with law to serve as a deterrent against similar actions by officials in future. The SKM also sought amendments to the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Act, 2023, arguing that the law changed the selection committee's composition by removing the Chief Justice of India and replacing that position with a Cabinet Minister nominated by the Prime Minister, effectively creating a 2-to-1 government majority on the panel.