Congress to hold 'major stir' on Oct 12 as anti-SIR protests escalate

NEW DELHI: Congress general secretary KC Venugopal announced that the party-led opposition INDIA bloc would stage a major protest in Delhi on Monday as part of its ongoing campaign to safeguard people's voting rights.

"The Congress and the INDIA bloc will continue their agitation until the electoral process and system were made free and fair," he told reporters in his Lok Sabha constituency, Alappuzha, on Saturday.

Alleging that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah were attempting to shield Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar, Venugopal claimed their efforts would ultimately lead to their "downfall."

“PM Modi is behaving like a leader nearing his downfall. He is afraid of the Opposition's protests,” he added. Venugopal further alleged that security curbs in Delhi, including the closure of 45 metro stations, were being taken to restrict or manage the protesters.

His remarks came amid allegations of irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, with more than 13 crore names reportedly deleted. Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar has also come under scrutiny following a media report claiming a “rift” between him and the two Election Commissioners, Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi.

Responding to the report, the Election Commission said differences of opinion were normal in multi-member institutions, adding that all decisions were ultimately taken unanimously. The opposition staged three major protests against the poll body this week. On Saturday, a delegation of the INDIA bloc submitted a memorandum to President Droupadi Murmu, raising its concerns over the issue.