Nagaland Congress demands CEC Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation over SIR

The Nagaland Pradesh Congress Committee (NPCC) on October 3 staged a protest in Dimapur demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, alleging that the exercise infringes upon citizens’ voting and constitutional rights.

The protest march, organised by the Dimapur District Congress Committee, began at Congress Bhavan and culminated at Town Hall, where party workers burnt an effigy of Kumar.

NPCC working president Apok Jamir alleged that the SIR exercise had resulted in the removal of crores of names from electoral rolls. He claimed that more than 13 crore electors had been “eliminated” from the rolls and demanded Kumar’s immediate resignation.

Jamir said ordinary citizens would be the biggest sufferers if eligible voters were excluded from electoral rolls, stressing that the right to vote was central to a democratic system.

“If his conscience permits and he agrees that he has committed a crime against the people, then he should resign immediately,” Jamir said.

The Congress leader said the protest was aimed at demanding accountability from the Election Commission and protecting citizens’ electoral rights.

The Congress has been holding protests across Nagaland as part of its wider campaign against the SIR exercise and has demanded Kumar’s resignation and removal.

Meanwhile, Jamir alleged that the shifting of allegiance by elected legislators and councillors in Nagaland amounted to “poaching”. He claimed that elected representatives had changed political affiliations due to coercion, pressure or inducement.

He said voters would ultimately judge such decisions during elections.