Mandi Congress Protests Against Election Commission, Seeks CEC’s Resignation.
Shimla:
The Mandi District Congress Committee held a protest in Mandi town today against the functioning of the Election Commission and alleged irregularities in the electoral process. The meeting and protest were chaired by District Congress Committee president Champa Thakur, with former Chief Parliamentary Secretary Sohan Lal Thakur, state president of the Scheduled Caste Department Naresh Chauhan and Block Congress Committee Seraj president Jagdish Reddy among those present.
Addressing the gathering, Champa Thakur alleged that votes were being “stolen” under the cover of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) and demanded the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. She alleged that the Election Commission was acting in coordination with the Central Government and called for an FIR against the CEC. Congress leaders also submitted a memorandum addressed to the President of India through the Deputy Commissioner, seeking action and the CEC’s resignation.
The Congress leaders further alleged that objections raised by Dr. Sukhwinder Singh Sandhu and Dr. Vivek Joshi on 14 occasions over a period of 10 months were not adequately considered. They claimed that decisions continued to be taken despite their objections.
Former CPS Sohan Lal Thakur said the Mandi Congress had taken to the streets in defence of democracy. Referring to the call given by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, he said the protest was against the Election Commission’s functioning and alleged deletion of voters’ names. He asserted that the party’s campaign for voters’ rights and institutional impartiality would continue.
District Congress leaders and workers, including Mahesh Raj, Deep Sharma, Gopal Thakur, Jagdish Reddy, Hemraj, Prakash Chand and others, participated in the protest.
