NCP-SP, Cong to participate in Mumbai protest march against Gyanesh Kumar, SIR

Allies Nationalist Congress Party – Sharadchandra Pawar (NCP-SP) and Congress will participate in Shiv Sena (UBT) and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS)’s October 4 protest march in Mumbai against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over the alleged mishandling of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR).

NCP-SP lawmaker Supriya Sule and Congress leader Nana Patole announced their participation after Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Uddhav Thackeray participated virtually in a meeting of the Opposition Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) on Wednesday and urged its constituents to join the October 4 march.

Uddhav Thackeray and MNS leader Raj Thackeray invited opposition parties and people to join the protest against the Election Commission of India (ECI)’s functioning and the SIR.

Congress leader Nana Patole said they want the protest to go beyond political parties and become a people’s movement. “Democracy is being murdered in broad daylight. Gyanesh Kumar is benefiting the [ruling] BJP [Bharatiya Janata Party]. Congress believes democracy must be protected. Everyone who believes in democracy is now taking to the streets,” said Patole.

On Wednesday, INDIA bloc revived demand to replace electronic voting machines (EVMs) with paper ballots and announced a six-point programme, including public rallies and a petition to the President, to target Kumar and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The bloc accused Kumar and the government of manipulating voter rolls during the SIR to subvert electoral integrity. It alleged that Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah were treating the ECI as their puppets.

Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge said everyone has decided to fight together in a united manner after a three-and-a-half-hour INDIA bloc strategy session. He confirmed that all participating leaders “100% agreed that instead of EVMs, paper ballots should be used”. Kharge called for reversing recent election law amendments.

The ECI has faced renewed scrutiny over the SIR across states. The Indian Express last week reported that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi recorded objections to decisions taken in the ECI’s name at least 14 times over 10 months. The reported disagreements involved changes to Form 6 for the inclusion of names in the electoral roll, the centralisation of controls in Delhi, voter deletion appeals in West Bengal, and the failure to add eligible voters in Goa.