Congress leads protests demanding resignation of CEC, arrests

The Congress on Friday (September 25, 2026) led nationwide protests demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar, accusing him of undermining the integrity of India’s electoral process, with party general secretary (organization) KC Venugopal calling for Mr Kumar’s alleged election resignation and arrest. Civil society groups and other organizations staged parallel protests in Delhi and several states.

Congress workers took to the streets across the country, the protests were stopped by the police in several places. Water cannons were used against protesters in Patna, Lucknow and Punjab, while protesters were detained in Assam, Jammu, Odisha, Manipur and other states. In Manipur’s capital Imphal, police fired several teargas shells to disperse the protesters.

In Kerala’s Malappuram, Mr. Venugopal said the nationwide protests would continue until the CEC stepped down. Targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah, the Congress leader alleged that they were using Mr Kumar to overcome public opposition to the government through “artificial manipulation”.

“Mere resignation is not enough, he must be arrested. What he has done is a crime, he must be arrested,” Mr. Venugopal said, adding that all decisions taken by Mr. Kumar, including those related to special intensive review, should be revoked.

In a post on X, he called on all Indians to put “unbelievable pressure on the regime and its stooge for daily robbery of our vote and fix accountability”.

Party communications chief Jairam Ramesh said citizens and Congress workers have taken to the streets to demand accountability for the usurpation of their fundamental right to vote and the “diabolical misdeeds of the Chief Election Commissioner”. “A frightened Modi government has cracked down on protesters and detained Congress leaders and workers, young citizens and students and civil society activists – in so many places across the country,” he wrote on X.

Congress President Pawan Khera told a press conference: “We want to say to Gyanesh Kumar: it’s done, mate. Take Rahul Gandhi’s advice – resign and become an endorser.”

Accusing the Election Commission of an “unprecedented attack” on voter equality, the Congress alleged that a specific “Mark VIP” feature had been created in the BLO app.

Amid mounting pressure from the opposition CEC, Kumar canceled two scheduled meetings in Uttar Pradesh. Public opinion sources said it was not related to the protests and was a routine decision.

Activists and civil society organizations participated in the campaign at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi. The All India Students’ Association (AISA) along with civil society members organized a protest demanding the arrest of Mr. Kumar. CPI(ML) Liberation general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya, AISA president Neha Bora, activist Yogendra Yadav, lawyer Prashant Bhushan, RJD MP Manoj Jha, activists Anjali Bhardwaj and Nandita Narain were among those who attended. The Delhi Police detained several protesters, including Mr. Bhattacharya and Mr. Yadav.

Police also detained Delhi Congress chief Devender Yadav, who organized a march from the Congress office in Delhi to Nirvachan Sadan, the headquarters of the Election Commission. Another protest was called by the Students Federation of India at Nirvachan Sadan. The Indian Youth Congress separately staged a protest in Delhi in which demonstrators wore masks bearing Mr Kumar’s face and displayed their hands in chains.

New Delhi Deputy Commissioner of Police Sachin Sharma said the protesters were detained as no permission was sought or granted to hold the protest at these locations. Mr. Sharma said 50-60 protesters were detained from Jantar Mantar, about 10 from the SFI protest and about 25 from the Congress protest.

The All India Democratic Women’s Association took out a rally from Kolkata’s Esplanade to the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) and later submitted a memorandum to the CEO demanding the resignation of the CEC.

The Congress framed the protests around its “vote chori” campaign, arguing that the electoral roll revision process could exclude legitimate voters. The protests followed Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi’s press conference on the issue on Thursday after it was reported that two of the three election commissioners, Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi, had repeatedly protested the electoral roll decisions for 10 months, saying some decisions were taken without their knowledge.

In several states, party workers burnt effigies of the CEC, raised slogans demanding his arrest and called for independent scrutiny of electoral rolls.

In Patna, the Bihar Congress marched towards the Election Commission office but was stopped by the police using water cannons. Similar protests were reported in Lucknow, where Congress workers led by state president Ajay Rai clashed with police after the halt. In Assam, state Congress president Gaurav Gogoi and other leaders were detained when they tried to march to the Chief Electoral Officer’s office.

In Jammu, Congress MP and AICC General Secretary Syed Naseer Hussain led the protest, several senior party leaders, including former ministers and former legislators, participated in the demonstration.

The Congress also alleged that the Narendra Modi government was trying to deny voting rights to Gen Z by trying to “steal (them) through secret means”, recalling former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi’s decision to lower the voting age from 21 to 18.

“One Prime Minister gave Gen Z vote, another is determined to steal it by secret means,” said Mr. Ramesh in another post on X.

Published – 25 Sep 2026 22:56 IST