Naveen Patnaik demands CEC Gyanesh Kumar's resignation, calls for SIR review

BJD president Naveen Patnaik on Friday called for the immediate resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and demanded a fresh review of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

His remarks came after a newspaper report highlighted differences within the three-member Election Commission over decisions and instructions concerning the revision of electoral rolls. The issues reportedly included the addition and deletion of voter names, changes to forms for new voters and access to electoral data.

"Because of the sharp differences between election commissioners and the chief election commissioner, the CEC should immediately resign, and the whole SIR process should be thoroughly revisited," Patnaik told reporters outside the Odisha Assembly.

The Leader of Opposition in Odisha said the BJD had opposed the SIR process from the outset.

The party had earlier alleged irregularities in the SIR exercise in Odisha and claimed that more than 25 lakh eligible voters had been removed from the electoral rolls.  (with inputs from PTI)