New Delhi, Oct 2 (IANS): Left student unions and several other organisations staged protests here on Friday to demand the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, with a large number of students and activists participating and several of them being detained by police.
CPI-M General Secretary M.A. Baby told IANS that thousands of youth and student activists of the party-affiliated Students’ Federation of India (SFI) and Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) had arrived in Delhi from different parts of the country to participate in the protest.
“I think this would be the biggest mobilisation in Delhi today. They are going to strongly register their demand that Gyanesh Kumar, who has been nakedly violating all existing rules of the functioning of the Election Commission, should be removed,” he said.
“INDIA bloc has taken a decision. We are going to conduct a rally on November 1. On October 6, MPs of the INDIA bloc and others will be marching. As he (Gyanesh Kumar) is not resigning, we will continue to protest,” he added.
Rajya Sabha member A.A. Rahim said Delhi Police had denied permission for the protest at Jantar Mantar, forcing protesters to proceed without permission.
“We will not surrender to authoritarianism. We will not turn back and will continue our fight to safeguard the Indian Constitution, because that is our duty. Peaceful protests are our right; how can they prevent us?” Rahim said.
“We will fight for justice,” he added.
CPI-M leader Brinda Karat alleged that the Election Commission’s actions had undermined voting rights and demanded Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation or removal.
“On Gandhi Jayanti, we are pledging to defend the principles for which Gandhi ji fought, and one of those rights is the equal right to vote,” Karat said.
Karat also alleged that nearly 13 crore voters had been illegally deleted under Gyanesh Kumar’s leadership and demanded an end to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
About the denial of permission for the protest, Karat said, “We don’t require permission to defend democracy.”
She also criticised the detention of protesters, saying, “What is detention? Detention versus deletion.”
Delhi Police had imposed prohibitory orders under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023, in the Jantar Mantar area. The order prohibits public gatherings or assemblies of five or more people, processions, demonstrations, picketing and dharnas without prior written permission. It also restricts shouting slogans and making speeches without permission.
Members of Left organisations and civil society groups had called for protests against the Election Commission over the ongoing SIR exercise and demanded action against Gyanesh Kumar. Protesters were detained after police denied permission for the demonstration.
