Congress Seeks Election Chief’s Resignation Over Voter Roll Revision

India’s Congress party on Tuesday demanded the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, suspension of the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls and the restoration of more than 13 crore voter names it says were removed. The party also called for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah to resign, alleging they were responsible for electoral manipulation. The allegations have not been independently established in the material available. The demands followed a meeting of the Congress Working Committee in New Delhi chaired by party president Mallikarjun Kharge. A resolution adopted at the meeting said more than 13 crore names had been removed from draft electoral lists during the revision exercise across 30 states and Union Territories. The figure is the party’s claim; the reports do not provide independent totals, a baseline or a breakdown of the removals. The committee said it wanted the revision halted over concerns about the integrity and transparency of the rolls and the process’s constitutional validity. It also demanded Kumar’s resignation and said the names should be restored.