ALAPPUZHA (Kerala), Nov 8: AICC general secretary K C Venugopal on Sunday said the Congress-led agitation against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar would continue until he was removed from the post and the country's electoral system was made impartial and transparent.

Speaking to reporters here, Venugopal said protests were continuing across states and districts, with only a brief pause expected during the Deepavali festival. He said the Congress would take its campaign to the panchayat level over the next one-and-a-half months.

Key points

  • The Congress said it would not end the agitation midway and demanded Kumar's removal.
  • The party planned a nationwide Vote Bachao, Desh Bachao campaign at the panchayat level.
  • A Vote Rakshak would be appointed at every polling booth to scrutinise electoral rolls and help voters whose names had been deleted.
  • The Opposition would raise the issue strongly during the upcoming Parliament session, Venugopal said.

What happened

Venugopal said Congress units were organising programmes in states and districts as part of the agitation. Plans were also being drawn up for joint programmes with other political parties, he said.

He described the Congress rally held in New Delhi on November 1 as one of the strongest protests witnessed in the country. Venugopal said the party was fighting against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

“We will withdraw from this agitation only after Gyanesh Kumar is removed from the post and steps are taken to make India's electoral system and processes flawless, impartial and fair. This is not a struggle that we will abandon midway,” Venugopal said.

He alleged that the deletion of names from electoral rolls would deprive poor people of voting rights and access to government benefits, which were increasingly being linked to voter identity cards.

The proposed Vote Bachao, Desh Bachao, or Save the Vote, Save the Nation, campaign would be held at the panchayat level. Under the campaign, the Congress planned to appoint a Vote Rakshak, or guardian, at every polling booth.

These booth-level workers would scrutinise electoral rolls, identify people whose names had been deleted and visit their homes to help get the names restored, Venugopal said.

Who said what

Venugopal said the Congress was seeking electoral processes that were “flawless, impartial and fair”. He said the party's protests would continue across the country after the Deepavali break.

He said the Opposition would raise recent controversies and issues affecting the public during the upcoming Parliament session. Referring to the previous session, Venugopal claimed that Shah could not enter the House for nearly two weeks because of Opposition protests.

Background

The agitation centred on the Congress allegation that deletion of names from electoral rolls could deny voters, particularly poor people, their franchise and access to government benefits. Venugopal linked the campaign to the party's demand for an impartial and transparent electoral system.

The Congress had held the November 1 rally in New Delhi and said its organisational units were continuing protests in states and districts. Its next phase would rely on polling booth-level volunteers to examine electoral rolls and help people seek restoration of their names.

What next

The Congress planned to launch its panchayat-level campaign over the next one-and-a-half months. Venugopal said the Opposition would also take up the electoral-roll issue and other public concerns during the upcoming Parliament session.