Congress stages rallies against EC-CEC issue in Hyderabad, Vijaywada

The state Congress units in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh on Monday took out protest rallies demanding the resignation of chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and restoration of all the votes deleted as part of the SIR across the country.

In Telangana, the protests were organised under the auspices of state Congress chief B Mahesh Kumar Goud at Necklace Road on the banks of Hussainsagar lake in Hyderabad.

Thousands of the Congress workers took part in the rally, which began at the Indira Gandhi statue and proceeded towards the Election Commission office at Buddha Bhavan.

Apart from Mahesh Kumar Goud, Bhongir MP Chamala Kiran Kumar Reddy, Telangana ministers Duddilla Sridhar Babu, Ponnam Prabhakar and Mohammed Azharuddin, besides a large number of Congress MLAs, MLCs and senior party leaders, were present.

Speaking to reporters later, Goud said the functioning of the Election Commission had raised serious concerns and demanded that the Chief Election Commissioner step down from his post.

“We demand that the ECI should be accountable to the people and the CEC cannot take unilateral decisions. It should allay the apprehensions of the people over en mass deletion of voters,” he said.

In Andhra Pradesh’s Vijayawada, state party working presidents Shaik Mastan Vali and J D Seelam, and general secretary Kolanukonda Sivaji, led a march to the Election Commission’s office. The protesters also burnt an effigy of the CEC.

At the conclusion of the protest, a representation outlining the Congress party’s concerns and demands was submitted to the Election Commission at its Vijayawada office.