Beed Congress Seeks CEC Gyanesh Kumar's Dismissal, Arrest

Beed: The Beed district unit of the Indian National Congress (INC) on Monday demanded the dismissal and arrest of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, alleging irregularities in electoral rolls and arbitrary decision-making within the Election Commission of India (ECI).

District Congress president Rahul Sonwane, along with party office-bearers and workers, staged a demonstration outside the Beed Collectorate and submitted a memorandum to the district collector.

In the memorandum, the Congress cited reports alleging growing differences within the poll panel and accused the ECI of compromising its autonomy. The party alleged that the institution was being used to favour the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and influence electoral outcomes.

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The memorandum claimed that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had raised objections on at least 14 occasions over the past 10 months against decisions allegedly taken unilaterally by the CEC. According to the Congress, the issues included the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, alleged unauthorised enrolments and deletion of voters and changes involving the Election Commission's internal IT systems.

Congress leaders also alleged discrepancies in electoral rolls in several states. The memorandum claimed that 92 lakh voters had been deleted from the rolls in West Bengal, that lakhs of voters had been removed in Bihar, and that around 47 lakh allegedly bogus voters were added ahead of the 2024 Maharashtra Assembly elections.

The party reiterated allegations previously raised by Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, who has alleged that India's electoral process was being compromised to benefit the BJP. These allegations have been disputed by the Election Commission.

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Describing the alleged actions as a serious threat to democratic institutions, the Congress memorandum demanded the removal and arrest of the CEC, stating that such action was necessary to protect the Constitution and maintain the integrity of the electoral process.

Sushila Morale, Dadasaheb Munde and Rizwana Khan were among those who participated in the demonstration.