Activists show red card to CEC Gyanesh Kumar, urge to scrap SIR | Hyderabad News
Hyderabad: About 150 people, including students, activists, professors and representatives of various Left-wing organisations gathered at Dharna Chowk in Indira Park on Saturday, demanding that the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls be scrapped and the Election Commission of India (ECI) be held accountable.The protest, organised by Youth Welfare Telangana in collaboration with other civil society and student organisations, was held under the banner “No SIR”. Participants raised slogans around the “right to vote” and carried placards listing demands, including the scrapping of SIR and protection of voting rights of eligible citizens.Actor and activist Prakash Raj, who also addressed the gathering, questioned the ECI’s accountability while referring to controversies surrounding elections in Chandigarh, West Bengal and Bihar. “I am not demanding resignation. The demand should be prosecution for those responsible for taking away votes and violating people’s rights,” he said.“When our rights, our votes and our Constitution are being taken away, we need to ask difficult questions,” Ruchith Kamal, a social justice activist, said. Speakers also alleged that the SIR could leave out genuine voters, particularly migrant workers, rural workers, women, Dalits, Adivasis and minorities, who may face difficulties in producing documents or completing the verification process.They demanded an examination of the ECI’s communications and decisions since 2023, changes to the law governing the appointment of election commissioners, and the use of ballot papers instead of EVMs. They also called for the resignation of CEC Gyanesh Kumar and an investigation into alleged electoral irregularities.
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