Congress demands arrest of Election Commissioner

CH NEWS, Ramanagara Congress leaders and workers staged a protest in Ramanagara on Tuesday, demanding the arrest and interrogation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over allegations of electoral malpractice. Led by District Congress President CNR Venkatesh, the protesters gathered in front of the party office on BM Road and took out a march through Aijur Circle. They later assembled at Kengal Circle, where they burned an effigy of Gyanesh Kumar and raised slogans against the Central Government, Prime Minister Modi and the Election Commission. Addressing the gathering, CNR Venkatesh alleged that Gyanesh Kumar was taking unilateral decisions and said the Supreme Court had sought clarification on the matter. He said the issue was serious as it concerned the voting rights of citizens. He alleged that the BJP had turned the Election Commission into a puppet and demanded immediate legal action against Gyanesh Kumar. Venkatesh further alleged that an attempt was being made to deprive more than one crore voters in the state of their rights under the Special Integrated Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. He said the SIR process should not affect the rights of eligible voters and alleged that the Election Commission was acting like an agency of the BJP. District Congress Labour Wing President Puttaraju alleged that the voting rights of more than 13 crore people across the country had been affected and their names removed from electoral rolls. He accused the BJP of trying to use the Election Commission to win elections and demanded the immediate arrest of Gyanesh Kumar. Former MLA K. Raju, Ganakal Nataraj, Chetan Kumar, Basavaraju, V.H. Raju, Girijamma Guruvegowda and several Congress leaders, workers and members attended the protest.