Left parties demand CEC’s removal, announce week-long protest against SIR

Five Left parties issued a joint statement demanding the ouster of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar and a halt to the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. The parties also announced a week-long protest to be held across the country from September 26 to October 2 on the issue.

The statement comes after reports that many of the “collective decisions” of the Election Commission of India (ECI) were in fact taken by the CEC alone, without keeping the two Election Commissioners in the loop. The Commissioners, according to the reports, have objected to several decisions endorsed by Mr. Kumar, including the centralisation of the electoral rolls database.