- Congress protests nationwide demanding CEC Gyanesh Kumar's resignation.
- Allegations of discontent within ECI over electoral roll revisions.
- Police used water cannons, detained leaders during demonstrations.
ECI-SIR Row: Congress staged a massive nationwide protest on Friday demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar after an Indian Express report revealed an alleged discontent within the Election Commission of India (ECI). The major opposition party held street protests in several key cities, including Delhi, Kolkata, Patna, and Lucknow. The police used water cannons and detained senior leaders like Gaurav Gogoi in Assam during the demonstration.
#WATCH | Bihar | Police use water cannon to disperse Congress workers protesting against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, in Patna pic.twitter.com/mncZmiOWlE
— ANI (@ANI) September 25, 2026
Massive Protest In Himachal
The Congress leaders also staged a massive protest in Himachal Pradesh where the party workers burned the effigy of Gyanesh Kumar. Apart from this, they also gathered outside the election commission's office in Shimla and erased the text from the sign board. The leaders replaced the text with "Thief Commission" in a gesture to register their protest against the CEC.
Rahul Gandhi Slams CEC
Earlier on Thursday, Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, while citing the report, alleged that Kumar helped the BJP in the recent polls. Gandhi claimed that the assembly elections in multiple states, including Haryana, Maharashtra, Delhi, and Bihar, were rigged. He further demanded the resignation of the chief election commissioner and a detailed inquiry into the matter.
"The first thing we are saying is Mr Gyanesh Kumar must resign immediately...This thing that you have done is an act against the Indian nation...A person who attacks the vote, who fundamentally destroys India's democratic institution, is nothing other than a 'Desh Drohi'," Gandhi said.
Ahead of his press conference, the Congress stated that it will hold protests in different parts of the country until Kumar resigns. The grand old party alleged that Kumar deliberately tried to "kill the soul" of the democracy and snatched the rights of voters.
#WATCH | Guwahati | Assam Congress President Gaurav Gogoi leads a protest rally against CEC Gyanesh Kumar and demands his resignation.
— ANI (@ANI) September 25, 2026
He says, "After people have come to know today that Gyanesh Kumar has committed a crime, he should resign. There should be legal action… pic.twitter.com/V3IuDswKCt
Did Kumar Ignore Objections?
As per the report, the objections raised by two other election commissioners, Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi, were not addressed by Kumar during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls. While the decisions were taken without their approval, Joshi and Sandhu did not even get a response on numerous occasions, the report added.
However, the Election Commission stated that the suggestions given by both the senior officials were considered and the final decision was taken on the mutual grounds. Apart from this, the BJP alleged that the Congress was trying to mislead the voters, adding that the grand old party has a history of exploiting the democratic institutions.