According to Bloomberg, on September 25th local time, India's major opposition party, the Congress Party, launched protests in several parts of the country, demanding the resignation of India's Chief Election Commissioner Jaswant Kajjar.
According to a post published by the Congress Party on the X platform, supporters of the party held demonstrations in several cities. In Manipur, northeastern India, clashes between protesters and police led to the use of tear gas by the police to disperse the protestors. Video footage released by the Congress Party showed that in Patna, the capital of Bihar, eastern India, water cannons were used against the protesters.
On September 25 local time, the Indian National Congress launched protests in many parts of the country. AFP
Previously, The Indian Express reported that last year, the Indian Election Commission launched a special centralized revision process (SIR) to update the national voter register. The official statement from the Election Commission stated that this work was aimed at “ensuring that the voter register is accurate and up-to-date, removing invalid and duplicate registrations, while ensuring that any eligible voters are not wrongly excluded.”
The report shows that the relevant amendment procedures resulted in the deletion of 130 million voter registration records. Two of the three members of the Indian Election Commission repeatedly opposed several resolutions related to the amendment of the voter list.
According to reports, two electoral commission members said that some of the relevant decisions were made by Kumar without their knowledge. They also expressed concerns about issues such as alterations to voters' information and changes in registration procedures. The electoral committee denied any internal disagreement.
Other opposition parties and activists also demanded the removal of Kumar, accusing him of marginalizing two other members of the electoral committee. They also accused him of excluding those two members from the committee.
The youth organization ‘Cockroach People’s Party’, which has led one of India’s largest student protests in recent years, urged Kumar to resign within 48 hours. They also threatened that if Kumar did not step down, they would launch another nationwide protest on October 2nd.
"Cockroach Party" urges to suspend all upcoming elections and halt ongoing voter registration updates, while establishing an independent commission to investigate related decisions. Saurav Das, co-organizer of the "Cockroach Party", also demands criminal proceedings against Kulam.
Three members of the Indian Election Commission are selected by the government. The selection panel consists of the Prime Minister, the Home Minister, and the leader of the opposition party. It is reported that the Congress Party opposed Kumar being appointed as the head of the Election Commission last year.
