Politics

Opposition Expands Anti-CEC Campaign to States Ahead of Parliament Session

By Saubhadra Chatterji

Opposition parties are preparing to launch the second phase of their campaign against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, alleging vote theft and seeking to present evidence to President Droupadi Murmu. The campaign will involve protests across states, with parties planning to raise the issue during the winter session of Parliament expected to begin later this month. Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary MA Baby said the opposition has decided to expand the campaign beyond Delhi, noting an urgent need to take the issue to district levels. Congress general secretary K C Venugopal led a ‘Vote Bachao, Desh Bachao’ rally organised by the Kozhikode DCC at Kozhikode beach on Saturday, where, despite torrential rain, tens of thousands attended to warn the Modi government against vote theft and authoritarian politics. Opposition strategists view the campaign as an opportunity to engage voters directly and galvanise state and district-level cadres ahead of assembly elections in five states early next year. A senior Rajya Sabha leader from the Congress said the outreach would embolden the campaign and provide tasks for grassroots organisations, helping assess organisational strength across states and districts. The opposition’s march and rally in New Delhi on November 1 was the largest show of strength by the INDIA bloc, which has been pushing for Kumar’s removal over allegations of irregularities in the functioning of the Election Commission of India and the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), which has already removed 130 million names from India’s electoral rolls, many of them under absent, shifted or dead categories. The BJP responded with rallies of its own in multiple cities, alleging that the opposition was acting at the behest of foreign powers to create anarchy in the country. Ten opposition leaders submitted a memorandum to President Murmu on October 9 seeking action against Gyanesh Kumar, the repeal of the 2023 law granting immunity to the CEC and election commissioners, and an immediate halt to the SIR of electoral rolls. They also demanded the restoration of 133 million voters allegedly removed from the rolls. After their meeting, the leaders said the President asked them for proof to back their allegations against Gyanesh Kumar. A senior Congress leader said the opposition now plans to seek another appointment with President Murmu to hand over compiled “proof” of the alleged voter roll manipulation.