SIR row: Congress is holding a protest across Maharashtra to oust Gyanesh Kumar
A Congress party worker wears the mask of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar during a protest against him for allegedly ignoring the Election Commission’s decision and objections raised by two Election Commissioners in Nagpur on Monday. | Photo credit: ANI
The Congress on Monday (September 28, 2026) stepped up its agitation against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, holding protest marches across Maharashtra demanding his removal and arrest over alleged irregularities in electoral rolls and conducting a special intensive review (SIR).
According to the Maharashtra Congress, demonstrations were held outside district collectors across the state, including Pune, Nagpur, Nashik, Kolhapur, Solapur, Thane, Amravati and Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar. Party leaders and workers submitted memoranda to the District Collectors demanding Mr. Kumar’s removal from office and legal action against him.
The protests come amid heightened opposition criticism of the election commission after an Indian Express investigation found that election commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had formally objected at least 14 times in the past 10 months to decisions and orders related to electoral rolls that they claimed were made without their knowledge or consent.
The objections covered issues including the addition and deletion of voters, changes to Form 6, appeals relating to electoral roll decisions and control over the voter database. Some internal memos described specific actions as “unauthorized” or “illegal”. ECI said the promissory notes were part of its normal internal decision-making process and held that its decisions during the period were unanimous, arguing that focusing on individual promissory notes without considering the larger number of approvals and decisions represented only part of the picture.
The report prompted several opposition parties to renew their attacks on Mr Kumar and the functioning of the electoral body, with Congress leaders saying the internal objections fueled concerns they had raised earlier about electoral roll revisions. Opposition leaders, including Rahul Gandhi and Uddhav Thackeray, subsequently sought legal action against Mr Kumar, while the ECI rejected suggestions that the reported differences showed its decisions were not taken collectively.
As part of protests in Maharashtra on Monday, Congress workers in Amravati displayed an effigy of Mr Kumar on a donkey, while in Thane, the party said, protesters made an effigy performing sit-ups.
The protest in Kolhapur was led by Congress Legislative Council group leader and former minister Satej Patil, while Congress working committee member and MP Praniti Shinde participated in the agitation in Solapur. In Amravati, former minister Yashomati Thakur and MP Balwant Wankhade participated, while MP Kalyan Kale joined the protest in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar.
Congress MPs Pratibha Dhanorkar, Ravindra Chavan and Shivaji Kalge took part in demonstrations in Chandrapur, Nanded and Latur, while former MP Kumar Ketkar was present at the Thane protest, the party said.
According to the Congress, similar demonstrations were held in Beed, Ratnagiri, Sindhudurg, Raigad, Dharashiv, Yavatmal, Hingoli, Jalna, Parbhani, Palghar, Nandurbar, Bhandara and Akola among others.
The party claimed that the revisions to the electoral roll under Mr. Kumar’s leadership benefited the ruling BJP and said that internal objections reported within the Election Commission confirmed concerns raised earlier by Rahul Gandhi. The Congress also cited the deletion of over 13 million names from the draft electoral rolls during the SIR process in 30 states and Union Territories, attacking the electoral body’s management of the exercise. The Indian Express reported that more than 13 million names were removed from the drafts during the exercise; this number alone does not prove that this deletion was incorrect.
The Maharashtra Congress said it would continue its agitation until Mr Kumar was removed and action was taken against him and warned that it would intensify protests in the coming days.
Published – 29 Sep 2026 02:49 IST