Mumbai Congress protest: 200 gather at Dadar, demand resignation of CEC Gyanesh Kumar

Protesters condemn the alleged misdeeds of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar at Chaityabhoomi in Dadar on Tuesday. Pics/Atul Kamble

About 200 people gathered near Chaityabhoomi in Dadar on Tuesday to peacefully demand the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar in the wake of reports raising concerns about an alleged lack of transparency and voter list irregularities coming to light.

The protest, organised by the Mumbai unit of the Congress, was attended mainly by people over the age of 30 and a few college students. It started at 3 pm with about 50 people, and the number of protesters ballooned to 200 an hour later. Multiple political figures such as Congress MP Varsha Gaikwad and NCP-SP National Spokesperson Anish Gawande were in attendance and participated in reading the Preamble of the Constitution. The demonstration continued till 5 pm, as multiple protesters raised slogans demanding the resignation of the CEC due to the recent allegations.

Protesters condemn the alleged misdeeds of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar at Chaityabhoomi in Dadar on Tuesday. Pics/Atul Kamble

One protester, who was not affiliated with any political party, requesting anonymity, said, "The reason we all have gathered here is the lack of transparency. If the CEC has done nothing wrong, why can't they simply tell us that and show us proof? If we don't speak up now, younger generations will not trust the electoral system."

‘Why so many issues?'

Nelson Sagayaraj, an undergraduate student and the National Students' Union of India's South Mumbai secretary, said, "I have been following the developments in this case since the Leader of Opposition had raised the topic of vote chori, and since then there have been multiple issues with the CEC. The biggest issue is that several people's names are not in the electoral rolls after the SIR [Special Intensive Revision] was done this May. Why are there so many issues? If no mistakes have been made by those who are in authority, there should be no problem with them being transparent with us, the public of this country."

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