Daijiworld Media Network - Vijayawada

Vijayawada, Sep 26: The Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) and Vijayawada City Congress Committee jointly organised a protest at Dharna Chowk in Gandhi Nagar here on Friday, demanding the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in the electoral process.

Addressing the media, APCC vice-president Kolanukonda Shivaji demanded the removal of Kumar and called for his arrest and prosecution. He sought an independent inquiry into the alleged irregularities, immediate stoppage of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process and restoration of what he claimed were 13 crore deleted votes.

Shivaji also demanded that voter data entry should not be centralised in a manner that undermines the functioning of local Electoral Registration Officers (EROs). He called for decentralisation of the Election Commission’s powers, saying it would ensure greater transparency and accountability.

He questioned software-related restrictions that he alleged were preventing eligible citizens who had attained the age of 18 from registering as voters. Shivaji sought an explanation from the Election Commission on why such software provisions were introduced without corresponding amendments to statutory election rules and at whose direction the decisions were taken.

He further urged courts to take suo motu cognisance of the allegations relating to “vote theft” and order a judicial inquiry to establish the facts and determine responsibility, if any.

Shivaji also called upon Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, YSRCP president YS Jagan Mohan Reddy and Deputy Chief Minister K Pawan Kalyan to publicly state their positions on the allegations concerning the Election Commission and the electoral process in Andhra Pradesh.