Rahul Gandhi said CEC Gyanesh Kumar would go, followed by the Modi government.
Gandhi had earlier told INDIA bloc MPs that the issue extended beyond the Chief Election Commissioner.
The Opposition has cited reported objections by Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi to SIR-related decisions.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday, October 10, said Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar would go, followed by the Narendra Modi government, after which the process of repairing democracy would begin. His remarks came amid heightened Opposition protests over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and demands for Kumar’s resignation.
In a post in Hindi on X, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha said, “Gyanesh Kumar will go. This government will go. Then the repair of democracy will begin.” He also shared a video of his address to INDIA bloc MPs at the Central Hall of Parliament.
The remarks came as Delhi witnessed extensive security restrictions and detentions ahead of the Cockroach Janta Party’s (CJP) protest at Jantar Mantar, which has drawn support from sections of the Opposition.
Rahul Gandhi Says Government Will Fall
Addressing INDIA bloc MPs at Samvidhan Sadan on Friday, Gandhi had said the problem extended beyond CEC Gyanesh Kumar and called for the removal of the current government.
“There is a much deeper problem than Gyanesh Kumar, and it requires termination of this current government,” he said, adding that the issue was worth fighting and dying for.
“If we continue to push the way we have in the last three-four days, I guarantee this government will fall,” the former Congress president said.
Gandhi also claimed that recent Opposition protests had shaken the government and left it apprehensive. His latest remarks signal that the INDIA bloc intends to continue its campaign against the Election Commission’s handling of electoral rolls and the ongoing SIR exercise.
Opposition Flags Election Commissioners’ Objections, Delhi Restrictions
The Opposition’s campaign has intensified following a report by The Indian Express that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had recorded objections at least 14 times over 10 months, mostly concerning decisions and orders related to the SIR of electoral rolls.
Responding to scrutiny over the reported objections, the Election Commission said differences of opinion and observations were normal in institutional deliberations. It maintained that its orders carried full legal sanction and followed established statutory procedures.
Meanwhile, Congress general secretary K.C. Venugopal criticised the security measures imposed in Delhi ahead of the CJP protest.
“The Modi-Shah regime has officially waged war against its own people,” Venugopal wrote on X, citing train and metro station closures, mass detentions and the deployment of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF).
Describing the demonstration as a non-violent protest, he said, “A completely non-violent protest, a Satyagraha against the illegitimate dictators, is being clamped down upon in the most brutal and oppressive fashion.”
The protest centres on demands for accountability over the SIR exercise and the resignation of CEC Gyanesh Kumar. The Election Commission has defended its procedures, while the BJP and the Opposition remain sharply divided over the allegations surrounding electoral rolls.
