Congress leaders and workers hit streets district-by-district demanding protection of country’s electoral system and democracy: Fierce protests in Nagaon, Guwahati
By Dalim Phukan
Guwahati, Sep 29 : Demanding the resignation and arrest of the country’s Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, the Congress party today staged an all-out statewide protest across Assam. Responding to the call of the All India Congress Committee (AICC), thousands of party leaders and workers hit the streets in this protest organized by the Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC), pledging to safeguard the impartiality of the electoral system and democratic values. Leveling grave allegations that the Chief Election Commissioner has betrayed democracy and the nation by acting in the interests of the ruling party, Congress launched nationwide protests, as part of which APCC President and MP Gaurav Gogoi led the agitation organized by the Nagaon District Congress Committee.
In the presence of AICC Secretary Manoj Chauhan, MP Rakibul Hussain, former MLA and bye-election candidate Sibamoni Bora, and Assam Pradesh Mahila Congress President Mira Borthakur Goswami, party leaders and workers agitated vehemently, charging the atmosphere in Nagaon.
The protesters registered their fierce outrage by burning effigies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, and Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. Participating in the protest, President Gaurav Gogoi demanded the immediate removal and arrest of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. He warned that all quarters must speak out unitedly to preserve the transparency, neutrality, and democratic values of the nation’s electoral system.
Meanwhile, the Congress protest assumed an intense form in Guwahati city as well. Early in the morning, hundreds of leaders and workers led by Congress leaders Bipul Gogoi, Bedabrat Bora, Arun Tiwari, Swapan Das, Bidisha Neog, Balika Lahan Pegu, Mainajan Begum, and Rituparna Konwar gathered at the Manabendra Sarma Complex in Dispur to stage the demonstration.
Carrying banners and posters, the protesters prepared to bring out a protest march onto the streets, but a large police contingent barricaded the main gate of the complex to foil the attempt. Confined within the office premises, Congress leaders and workers chanted reverberating slogans against the Union government and the Election Commission. Apart from Nagaon and Guwahati, extensive protest programs were carried out under the auspices of respective District Congress Committees across almost all districts, including Golaghat, Jorhat, Goalpara, Bongaigaon, Nalbari, and Dhubri.
It is noteworthy that a report published in the prominent national daily The Indian Express has triggered a major political storm across the country surrounding Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. According to allegations, Gyanesh Kumar has been taking unilateral decisions while completely sidelining the other two Election Commissioners of the Commission.
Serious allegations have surfaced that despite objections raised as many as 14 times by the other two commissioners, he unilaterally took key decisions such as altering Form 6 and deleting legitimate voters from the rolls through SIR to aid the ruling BJP in elections.
In the wake of these allegations, sustained agitations have been underway for the past three days from national capital New Delhi to various states. After Congress workers registered their vehement anger by smearing black ink on the main gate of Gyanesh Kumar’s personal residence in Agra, Uttar Pradesh, these protests have now assumed widespread dimensions nationwide.
