ITANAGAR, Sep 25: The Arunachal Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) on Friday staged a peaceful dharna near Nirvachan Bhawan in Itanagar, demanding transparency and accountability in the electoral roll revision process and an independent inquiry into what it described as irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR).
The protesters raised allegations of wrongful inclusion and deletion of voters and termed the issue part of the broader “Vote Chori” concerns raised by the party. The APCC said any arbitrary deletion of eligible voters or inclusion of ineligible names could affect public confidence in the electoral process.
The party demanded that the SIR exercise be frozen and that the electoral roll be restored to the January 2025 list pending an independent examination of the revision process. It also sought an Inquiry Commission to scrutinise the decisions, procedures and actions associated with the exercise.
The APCC further demanded the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and an independent investigation into allegations concerning the functioning and decision-making of the Election Commission of India.
Seeking preservation of evidence, the party called for all files, records, documents and digital material related to electoral-roll revision to be secured under judicial custody so that they remain available for any future investigation or judicial scrutiny.
The party also demanded repeal of the 2023 law governing the appointment of Election Commissioners and its replacement with a legislative framework aimed at strengthening the independence, transparency and credibility of the Election Commission.
The APCC said its protest was peaceful and democratic and called upon the Election Commission and other authorities to address the concerns through transparent, verifiable and independently scrutinised processes.