Gaurav Gogoi detained at Guwahati protest over CEC

Assam Congress president Gaurav Gogoi and several party leaders were detained in Guwahati on September 25 after attempting to cross police barricades during a protest demanding the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. The demonstration focused on the Election Commission’s handling of electoral rolls and its Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process. The protesters gathered at the Congress state headquarters, Rajiv Bhawan, and planned to march to the office of the Chief Electoral Officer. Police had set up barricades near the headquarters. After Gogoi and other leaders tried to pass them, officers detained the group. The protest was part of the Congress’s campaign seeking Kumar’s removal and greater transparency in the electoral process. Among those detained were All India Congress Committee secretary Manoj Chauhan, Seva Dal president Deep Bayan and Assam Pradesh Congress Committee general secretary Udit Bhanu Das, along with other party workers. The group raised slogans against the Election Commission and Kumar. The protest had also been planned to include the burning of an effigy, according to accounts of the demonstration.