Congress launches campaign seeking CEC Kumar’s removal

India’s Congress party announced a nationwide campaign demanding the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and challenging the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, as the Supreme Court took up petitions questioning decisions made during the process. Congress general secretary K. C. Venugopal said the campaign, called “Vote Bachao, Desh Bachao,” would seek changes to the electoral system and the restoration of voters whose names the party says were deleted. The announcement followed a meeting of party leaders, including Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi. Venugopal said the party intended to sustain the campaign rather than limit it to a single protest. Jairam Ramesh, another Congress leader, said more than 13 crore voters had been deleted during the SIR and that restoring names would be central to the effort. The figure is a party claim and is not independently established in the information available. Congress said its workers would identify people whose names they believe were removed and help pursue their restoration to electoral rolls.