Opposition demands removal of Gyanesh Kumar as CEC over alleged electoral roll discrepancies

Members of the INDIA bloc, intellectuals, and progressive organisations staged a massive protest rally and fast demanding the immediate dismissal of Gyanesh Kumar as Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) at the GVMC Gandhi Statue in Visakhapatnam on Saturday (October 10, 2026). They alleged that the Election Commission of India (ECI) has compromised its constitutional neutrality and acted as an instrument of the ruling party at the Centre.

The protest began with a rally from the Gurazada statue at the RTC Complex and culminated in a hunger strike camp near the Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) office. Leaders across political and civic fronts voiced serious concern over the erosion of democratic safeguards and the lack of transparency in recent electoral processes.

Addressing the gathering as the chief speaker, Chalasani Srinivas, founder president of the Andhra Intellectual Forum, said that free and fair elections are the bedrock of Indian democracy. He highlighted growing public skepticism regarding electoral integrity, pointing to discrepancies in voting percentages, Form-17C data, and the premature destruction of polling video footage following the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Mr. Srinivas alleged that recent changes in the appointment process of election commissioners and modifications to voter roll management have compromised the ECI’s independence.

Communist Party of India (CPI) State executive member J.V. Satyanarayana Murthy criticised the poll body’s failure to adequately address allegations raised by Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi regarding voter roll manipulation in Karnataka’s Mahadevapura segment. He accused the Commission of evading core queries on duplicate entries and unverified addresses under the guise of data privacy.

Communist Party of India (Marxist) district secretary M. Jaggunaidu brought to attention the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise in Bihar, pointing out that nearly 65 lakh names were excluded from the draft voter list. Protesters claimed that nationwide, millions of eligible voters have been systematically disenfranchised.

The leaders called upon the Supreme Court of India to intervene and remove CEC Gyanesh Kumar to safeguard the autonomy of the Election Commission.

Representatives from the INC, CPI, CPI(M), CPI(ML) New Democracy, Praja Poru, AAP, and affiliated trade unions (INTUC, AITUC, CITU) and student bodies (SFI, AISF, DYFI) participated in the rally.