STAFF REPORTER
GUWAHATI: The Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) will stage a protest rally in Guwahati on September 25, alleging irregularities in the functioning of the Election Commission of India (ECI), including what the party has termed "vote theft".
The protest march will begin at 11:30 am from Rajiv Bhawan and proceed towards the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Assam, at Janata Bhawan in Dispur.
According to the APCC, the protest will also oppose what it described as the "authoritarian actions" of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. The party said it plans to burn an effigy of the CEC and demand his removal from office, his arrest, and an independent high-level review of changes made to electoral rolls during his tenure. The Congress said its agitation follows reports concerning disagreements within the Election Commission over several electoral decisions. The party claimed that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had recorded written objections on at least 14 occasions over the past 10 months regarding decisions and directives allegedly taken without their knowledge.
The objections, according to the Congress, related to issues including the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), voter registration, deletion and restoration of names in electoral rolls, changes to Form 6 and the centralisation of the ECI's electoral-roll information technology systems.
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