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Hariprasad Demands CEC Gyanesh Kumar’s Resignation, Arrest Over SIR
B K Hariprasad is a Congress leader in Karnataka.
He says the Election Commission’s SIR exercise may have wrongly removed many people from voter lists.
He wants Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar to resign and be arrested.
He plans to hold a protest at Freedom Park in Bengaluru on September 26.
Hariprasad cited reports saying two other Election Commissioners objected to some decisions.
He also claimed that millions of names were deleted in Bihar, West Bengal and Karnataka.
He said many affected voters were minorities and Dalits.
The report presents Hariprasad’s allegations and does not include a response from the Election Commission.
Karnataka Congress president B K Hariprasad announced a September 26 protest at Bengaluru’s Freedom Park against the Election Commission’s SIR exercise.
Hariprasad demanded that Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar resign and be arrested, alleging unconstitutional conduct and unilateral decision-making.
He cited reports that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi objected at least 14 times to decisions allegedly made without their knowledge.
Hariprasad claimed the exercise deleted 63 lakh votes in Bihar, 91 lakh in West Bengal and 1.07 crore votes in Karnataka.
He alleged that many deleted voters were minorities and Dalits, and called for an independent inquiry into the process.
- Who
- B K Hariprasad, Karnataka Congress president, made the demands against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and referred to Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi.
- What
- Hariprasad demanded Kumar’s resignation and arrest and announced protests against the Election Commission’s SIR exercise.
- Where
- The first protest was announced at Freedom Park in Bengaluru, Karnataka, with later protests planned across Karnataka’s districts.
- When
- The announcement was made on September 25; the first protest was scheduled for September 26.
- Why
- Hariprasad alleged that unilateral decisions and the SIR process undermined democracy and caused wrongful voter deletions.
Key facts
- Protest location
- Freedom Park, Bengaluru
- Protest date
- September 26
- Demand
- Resignation and arrest of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar
- Alleged deletions in Bihar
- 63 lakh votes
- Alleged deletions in West Bengal
- 91 lakh votes
- Alleged deletions in Karnataka
- 1.07 crore votes
- Reported objections
- Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi allegedly objected at least 14 times over 10 months
Quotes
B K Hariprasad
Karnataka Congress president
“The actions of Gyanesh Kumar that have been revealed by media reports have come as a shock to the citizens of the country. The responsibility of protecting the integrity of democracy rests with the Election Commission. However, the democratic system itself has been undermined for the benefit of one political party and one leader.”
theprint.in
“When we examined this matter, we found that a large proportion of the deleted voters were minorities and Dalits. An attempt is being made to take away the voting rights of the poor.”
theprint.in
Sources
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