Congress steps up SIR protest in Delhi as demonstrators face detention in Bengaluru and Chennai
Protests demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls have drawn contrasting police responses in Bengaluru, Chennai and Hyderabad. While police detained demonstrators in Bengaluru and Chennai over the weekend, a protest outside the Election Commission office in Hyderabad on Monday, October 12, concluded without reported detentions or untoward incidents.
In Bengaluru, activists from various groups were detained during a protest near KR Circle, with police taking demonstrators away in buses. The protesters were demanding Kumar's resignation over alleged irregularities in the SIR exercise.
The detentions followed police action against student protesters in the city on Saturday, October 10. At least 50 students belonging to the All India Students' Association (AISA) were detained at Freedom Park while protesting against the revision exercise and preparing to march towards the Karnataka Chief Electoral Officer's office.
In Chennai, police detained more than 30 people who gathered at Elliot's Beach in Besant Nagar on October 10 to protest against Kumar and express solidarity with the planned demonstration in Delhi. The protesters were taken to a community centre after police asked them to disperse, citing the need for permission to hold the demonstration at the location. Student and youth organisation members marching towards the Tamil Nadu Secretariat were also detained.
The police action in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu drew attention because both states are governed by parties outside the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance, though their ruling parties differ. The Congress governs Karnataka, while the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) governs Tamil Nadu with Congress in alliance.
In Hyderabad, the demonstration took place outside the Election Commission office at BRKR Bhavan near Tank Bund. An estimated 20 citizens, students and civil society members gathered to demand the scrapping of the SIR and the restoration of the original electoral rolls. Police personnel guarded the office and did not allow protesters to enter the premises, but the demonstration continued outside without reported detentions.
The contrasting responses in the three cities came as the dispute over SIR reached the national capital. On Monday, Congress leader and Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi led an INDIA bloc mobilisation towards the Supreme Court, seeking action over alleged electoral irregularities. The Opposition has demanded a halt to the SIR exercise and Kumar's resignation.
Delhi Police stopped the march at barricades on Bhagwan Dass Road, preventing the leaders from reaching the Supreme Court on foot. In the evening, Rahul Gandhi, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Trinamool Congress's Saugata Roy, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Tejashwi Prasad Yadav filed a petition in the Supreme Court alleging large-scale voter deletions and irregularities in the SIR exercise.
Earlier on Monday, the Supreme Court said it had neither approved nor disapproved the new Form 6, the application for enrolment in the electoral roll, and that the question was not adjudicated when it heard the Bihar SIR matter. A bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana made the observation while hearing a petition concerning the SIR. The court said the plea would be heard along with similar pending SIR petitions on October 27.
(With inputs from PTI)