CEC Gyanesh Kumar Should Be Removed and Arrested - Mahesh Kumar Goud

Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee president Mahesh Kumar Goud alleged that Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar was acting in favour of the BJP and demanded his removal from office and arrest. Speaking to reporters in Nizamabad on Saturday, Goud criticised the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, alleging that the exercise was damaging the democratic process. He claimed that votes considered favourable to the BJP were being retained while others were being removed. Referring to a notice he said he had received regarding his own voter registration, Goud alleged that there was an attempt to delete his name. He also alleged irregularities in Bihar and West Bengal and raised questions over the difference between Maharashtra’s Lok Sabha and Assembly election results, citing this as a basis for doubts about EVMs.

The Congress has announced another round of protests against the Election Commission. Following the AICC’s call, Mahesh Kumar Goud asked party workers to organise demonstrations at all district headquarters in Telangana on September 28. He said a major protest would also be held near the Dr B.R. Ambedkar statue at Tank Bund in Hyderabad. Goud expressed confidence that the Congress would win if a by-election were held in the Khairatabad Assembly constituency, while stating that the party high command would decide the candidate. The Election Commission, meanwhile, has maintained that all final decisions relating to the SIR exercise were taken unanimously.