The Congress on Friday held protests in state capitals across the country, demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar after reported that two election commissioners objected on record 14 times in 10 months to SIR-related decisions taken by the poll panel.

Protests were held in Delhi, Chandigarh, Lucknow, Bhopal, Patna, Guwahati, and other state capitals. Several leaders were detained during the protests, including the party’s Assam unit chief Gaurav Gogoi in Guwahati and Uttar Pradesh unit chief Ajay Rai in Lucknow.

Police used force against the protesters at many places. Congress workers clashed with the police in Lucknow after they were stopped from marching towards the UP Chief Electoral Officer’s office in Hazratganj.

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The Congress is planning protests at the district level in all states on Monday, and a Congress Working Committee meeting will be held in Delhi on Tuesday to discuss further strategy on the demand for CEC Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation.

Congress general secretary (organisation) K C Venugopal said: “Gyanesh will go, it’s a matter of time… Congress will make it happen. The protests held by our leaders and workers across the country demanding his removal are just the beginning. There will be a massive outpouring of the defenders of democracy against the ‘deshdrohis’ who are out to destroy it.”

He added that every Indian “who is even slightly concerned” about “saving democracy should step out and mount pressure on this regime and its puppets to fix accountability for this daylight robbery of our vote, and to ensure those guilty are severely punished for destroying our democracy”.

Congress communications in-charge Jairam Ramesh said the country’s citizens and Congress workers took to the streets, demanding accountability for the usurpation of their constitutional right to vote and the devious actions of the Chief Election Commissioner. “A terrified Modi government unleashed brutal action against the protesters and detained Congress leaders and workers, along with young citizens and students, as well as social activists, at multiple locations across the country. The desperate PM-HM duo, facing the countdown to their exit, is gripped by fear of the growing despair, anger, and outrage among the public,” said Ramesh, who is also a Rajya Sabha member.

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“This fury stems from the very fact that the Election Commission has been seized and coerced into functioning in violation of all constitutional principles and traditions,” added Ramesh.