‘Vote Bachao, Desh Bachao’: Congress Announces Nationwide Agitation Against CEC Gyanesh Kumar

New Delhi, October 5: The Congress on Monday announced an intensified nationwide campaign under the slogan “Vote Bachao, Desh Bachao”, demanding the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and changes to the electoral system.

Congress general secretary K C Venugopal said the party’s agitation over what it alleges are irregularities in the electoral process and “vote theft” would continue until Kumar is removed and the system is corrected.

The campaign is scheduled to begin on October 10 and will include protests, marches, public meetings, chaupals, rallies and grassroots mobilisation across the country. A major mobilisation in Delhi is planned between October 10 and November 26, according to the party.

The decision was taken at a high-level Congress organisational meeting at the party’s new headquarters, Indira Bhawan, in New Delhi. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and senior party leaders participated in the meeting, where the next phase of the campaign was discussed.

The Congress has been opposing the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and has raised allegations regarding changes to voter-registration procedures. The Election Commission has disputed the allegations, while the Supreme Court has sought official records in petitions concerning the functioning of the poll body.

The Supreme Court on Monday also issued notices to the Centre and the Election Commission in petitions concerning allegations that certain SIR-related decisions were taken without the approval of other Election Commissioners. However, the court declined to pass an interim order suspending Gyanesh Kumar, saying it would examine the official record before taking further action.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has separately described the party’s key demands as non-negotiable, including the resignation of Gyanesh Kumar and cancellation of the SIR exercise.

With the new campaign, the Congress is seeking to turn its opposition to the SIR process and its allegations regarding electoral irregularities into a sustained nationwide mobilisation.