In Phase 2, Opposition plans to escalate anti-CEC campaign in states, corner govt

The Opposition’s campaign against Chief Election Commissioner 9CEC) Gyanesh Kumar and alleged vote theft is set to enter its second phase, with parties planning protests across states, people aware of the matter said.

The parties are also preparing to raise the issue in the upcoming winter session of Parliament, expected to begin later this month.

Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary MA Baby said the Opposition had decided to expand the campaign beyond Delhi. “We have felt there is an urgent need to take the issue to the states, down to the district level,” he said.

As part of the countrywide campaign, Congress general secretary K C Venugopal led a ‘Vote Bachao, Desh Bachao’ rally organised by the Kozhikode DCC at Kozhikode beach on Saturday. “Braving torrential rain, tens of thousands came out to send a strong warning to the Modi government against vote chori and its authoritarian politics,” Venugopal said in a post on Sunday.

Opposition strategists see the campaign as an opportunity to engage voters directly and galvanise state and district-level cadre ahead of assembly elections in five states early next year.

“The outreach will not only embolden our campaign but also provide tasks to our grassroots-level organization. It will help us understand our organisational strength across states and various districts,” a senior Rajya Sabha leader from the Congress said.

The Opposition’s march and rally in the heart of New Delhi on November 1 was the largest show of strength by the INDIA bloc, which has been pushing for Kumar’s removal over allegations of irregularities in the functioning of the Election Commission of India and SIR, which has already removed 130 million names from India’s electoral rolls, many of them under absent, shifted or dead categories. The BJP responded with rallies of its own in multiple cities, alleging that the Opposition was acting at the behest of foreign powers to create anarchy in the country.

Ten Opposition leaders on October 9 submitted a memorandum to President Droupadi Murmu to seek action against Gyanesh Kumar, the repeal of the 2023 law granting immunity to the CEC and election commissioners, and an immediate halt to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. It also demanded the restoration of 133 million voters allegedly removed from the rolls.

After their meeting, the leaders said that the President had asked them for proof to back their allegations against Gyanesh Kumar.

A senior Congress leader said the Opposition now plans to seek another appointment with President Murmu to hand over compiled “proof” of the alleged voter roll manipulation.