New Delhi: The Indian Youth Congress on Thursday launched an online petition demanding the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar following a report by the Indian Express on internal objections by election commissioners over voter deletions.
According to an official statement, the petition, titled “Gyanesh, It’s Done Bro”, also calls for Kumar’s arrest and prosecution, a comprehensive investigation into the electoral process and rolls, and the public release of electoral records and internal objections of the Election Commission.
The Congress’ youth wing said the campaign aims to take the issue of “electoral transparency and accountability beyond social media and mobilising citizens, especially young people, across the country”.
The petition comes a day after the IYC staged a protest in Delhi demanding Kumar’s resignation, citing an Indian Express report which revealed that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi recorded objections on at least 14 occasions over the past 10 months on issues related to electoral rolls and the functioning of the poll panel.
The reported objections concerned, among other things, the addition and deletion of voters, changes to Form 6 used for new voter registration, and the centralisation of electoral-roll systems, the statement read.
The IYC said it would take the campaign to campuses, colleges, universities, youth organisations and communities across the country.
“This is not going to remain merely an online petition. The IYC wants to turn this campaign into a mass movement. We will take this message to campuses, colleges, universities, youth organisations, communities and every part of the country,” IYC national president Uday Bhanu Chib said on Thursday.
It also called for the release of electoral records and internal objections to enable citizens to examine the decision-making and functioning of the poll panel.
