NEW DELHI: West Bengal BJP president Samik Bhattacharya has come out strongly in support of chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar amid a growing Congress-led campaign against him. Bhattacharya said that Kumar deserves “at the very least, the Padma Bhushan” for overseeing peaceful elections and changes to the electoral rolls in the state.Bhattacharya also took a swipe at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, claiming that even members of his own party do not take his statements seriously.“The fact is, even the Congress party itself doesn’t heed Rahul Gandhi’s words; they don’t take him seriously… Gyanesh Kumar deserves, at the very least, the Padma Bhushan,” Bhattacharya said while speaking to reporters.Praising the conduct of elections in West Bengal, the BJP leader said voters were able to cast their ballots without fear or intimidation.“The people of West Bengal are delighted that, after so long, intimidation was kept at bay. There were no incidents of murder, and people were actually allowed to cast their votes. Furthermore, in a border state like this, Gyanesh Kumar took the initiative to remove the names of Bangladeshi infiltrators from the voter lists,” he added.Bhattacharya said the measures taken by the Election Commission had received broad public support.“The people of West Bengal have rarely witnessed an election like this. Therefore, the general public of West Bengal fully supports Gyanesh Kumar…” he said.His remarks came as Congress stepped up its protests against the Election Commission across the country, with party workers demanding Kumar’s resignation over the poll body’s functioning and the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.In Delhi, the Indian Youth Congress marched from Raisina Road to Jantar Mantar, raising slogans against the CEC and demanding his resignation.The protests also spread across several states. In Patna, police used water cannons to disperse Congress workers demonstrating against Kumar. In Chandigarh, similar scenes were reported as police used water cannons against protesting Congress workers, some of whom climbed onto police vans.Congress workers also held demonstrations in Jammu and Kashmir, Assam, Uttarakhand, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and Manipur.In Shimla, Congress leaders and workers protested outside the State Election Commission office over issues concerning the Election Commission. Protesters also blackened the official board outside the office.In Manipur, Congress workers led by PCC president Okram Ibobi Singh and Congress Legislature Party leader Keisham Meghachandra Singh marched towards the chief electoral office at Lamphelpat. Protesters demanded Kumar’s arrest and prosecution and burnt an effigy of the CEC.The protest later turned tense, with demonstrators scuffling with police. Security personnel fired tear gas shells to disperse the protesters.In Jammu, heavy police deployment was reported outside the Election Commission office, while Congress MLAs in Srinagar protested inside the Legislative Assembly, carrying banners demanding Kumar’s resignation.
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Demonstrations were also held in Lucknow, Guwahati and Kolkata.The nationwide protests are part of Congress’ campaign against the functioning of the Election Commission and its handling of the SIR exercise.The political confrontation has intensified following an Indian Express report that election commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had raised objections at least 14 times over 10 months regarding decisions and procedures related to electoral rolls and access to election databases.The Election Commission has rejected the allegations, saying decisions related to the SIR were taken unanimously and that written notes, observations and differing views were part of its internal deliberations.
