Congress workers staged a protest outside the Agra residence of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar on Monday morning, raising slogans against him and defacing the main gate and boundary wall of the property with spray paint.
According to reports, Congress members and activists from organizations affiliated with the party gathered in large numbers outside Kumar’s residence in Vijay Nagar. The protesters pasted stickers and pamphlets on the boundary wall and wrote slogans on the main gate and exterior wall. Videos of the demonstration and the slogans painted on the property later circulated on social media.
The slogans painted on the residence included remarks directed at the Chief Election Commissioner. The protest was also highlighted by the Indian Youth Congress on the social media platform X. In a post, the organization alleged irregularities in elections and accused Kumar of working in conjunction with the central leadership over the past several years. The group stated that it would continue its campaign against him.
Gyanesh Kumar, a 1988-batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of the Kerala cadre, assumed office as India’s 26th Chief Election Commissioner on February 19 last year. Before becoming CEC, he was appointed as an Election Commissioner on March 15, 2024, after retiring from service on January 31, 2024.
Monday’s protest comes against the backdrop of a deepening confrontation between the Congress party and the Election Commission over the functioning of the poll body, including the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. Congress has been organizing demonstrations against the Election Commission in Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, and several other parts of the country.
The party has alleged that the Election Commission is functioning in a manner that benefits the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has repeatedly criticized Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, accusing him of taking actions that he claims are unconstitutional. Gandhi has also described such alleged actions as being against the interests of the nation.
Opposition criticism of the Election Commission intensified after a report published last week in The Indian Express claimed that two of the three Election Commissioners had formally objected to decisions of the Commission on 14 occasions over a period of 10 months. Following the report, opposition parties, including the Samajwadi Party, sharpened their attacks on both the Election Commission and the BJP.
Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Sunday criticized Congress and its allies for their remarks against the Election Commission and the Special Intensive Revision process. Speaking to reporters at his residence in Lucknow, Adityanath accused the opposition of weakening democratic institutions for political gain. He said Congress and its allies should apologize to the country and constitutional institutions for their statements regarding the Election Commission and described recent comments on the SIR exercise as “highly irresponsible.”
The protest in Agra has further intensified the political debate surrounding the Election Commission, with both the ruling party and opposition continuing to exchange sharp accusations over the conduct of electoral processes in the country.