New Delhi, Oct 27 (IANS) Members of the Communist Party of India (CPI) staged a protest, forming a human chain here on Tuesday against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, demanding his resignation and the cancellation of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

Speaking to IANS, CPI National General Secretary D. Raja said the party, along with other constituents of the INDIA bloc and various mass and class organisations, has intensified its campaign against the SIR exercise, alleging that genuine concerns regarding voter deletions remained unaddressed.

“Our party, as one of the constituents of the INDIA bloc, has been intensifying the campaign all over the country. Our party and other mass organisations and class organisations are also holding protests and organising campaigns across the country, because genuine issues are there,” Raja said.

He alleged that Gyanesh Kumar should have resigned but had refused to do so. Raja said the party had approached the President of India and the Supreme Court over the matter, but had yet to see any resolution.

“We approached Rashtrapati, we went to the Supreme Court and filed a petition, but nothing is happening. So the only way is to go to the people, mobilise the people, and intensify the campaign and struggle,” he said.

Raja added that the CPI had decided to conduct an independent campaign and form a human chain in the national capital to intensify its protest.

He also said the party would await the Supreme Court’s response, while alleging that nearly 14 crore voters had been removed from electoral rolls. He accused the Election Commission of India of failing to uphold its constitutional mandate.

CPI National Secretary Girish Chandra Sharma reiterated the party’s demands, calling for the cancellation of the SIR exercise and the removal of the Chief Election Commissioner.

“Cancel SIR and oust Gyanesh Kumar. Based on these two major demands, along with other issues concerning farmers, workers, youth, unemployment, education, and health, these remain the two primary demands causing unrest across the country,” Sharma said.

He questioned why Kumar had not resigned despite what he described as widespread public dissatisfaction, and criticised the Election Commission for not cancelling the revision exercise.

Sharma said democratic and Left organisations continued to participate in protests against the SIR, naming the All India Students’ Federation (AISF), the All India Youth Federation (AIYF) and the National Federation of Indian Women (NFIW) among the organisations involved.

Meanwhile, CPI MP P. Sandosh Kumar raised concerns over the use of Form 6 in the electoral roll revision process, arguing that its prescribed fields were mandatory for the application to proceed.

“Form 6 was mandatory because without fulfilling those columns, one cannot proceed forward. So there is no point in saying that it was not mandatory,” he said.

Kumar further argued that whether the decision was taken unanimously or by a majority did not alter what he alleged was a violation of the Electoral Registration Rules, 1960.

“So they may have taken this decision unanimously or by majority, but that does not absolve them,” he added.

–IANS

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