Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh Congress organised protest marches and demonstrations across the state on Wednesday against what it described as alleged irregularities in the electoral process, including manipulation of voter lists and the Special Intensive Revision (SIR). The protests were held on the directions of the All India Congress Committee and following a call by Uttar Pradesh Congress president Ajay Rai.
Congress workers demanded the arrest of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and sought a comprehensive and independent review of decisions taken during his tenure as well as changes made to electoral rolls. The allegations and demands were raised by the Congress as part of its wider campaign over what it calls “vote theft”.
According to UP Congress media department chairman Kunwar Singh Nishad, protest marches and effigy-burning programmes were organised jointly by district and city Congress committees across Uttar Pradesh.
In Lucknow, hundreds of Congress workers gathered at Tikuniya Park near Sharma Tea Shop at Lalbagh and marched towards the Election Commission office at Janpath Market. Police stopped the protesters near the Municipal Corporation office by putting up barricades, leading to a confrontation between the two sides. Congress workers subsequently burnt an effigy of the Chief Election Commissioner. Several protesters were detained and taken to the Police Lines in buses before being released later in the evening.
Protests were also held in several other districts. In Varanasi, Congress workers gathered at the statue of Dr B.R. Ambedkar at Kachahari and marched towards the Collectorate before burning an effigy. In Sultanpur, workers led by district president Abhishek Singh Rana and city president Shakeel Ansari held a protest march and burnt an effigy.
In Prayagraj, Congress workers marched from Balson Chauraha to Anand Bhawan and staged an effigy-burning protest, with MP Ujjwal Raman Singh and former MLA Anugrah Narayan Singh among those participating. In Ayodhya, protesters marched from the Congress office towards the Collectorate but were stopped by police near the district hospital, where they burnt an effigy.
Similar demonstrations were reported in Sonbhadra, Sitapur, Rae Bareli and Unnao. In Rae Bareli, Congress workers marched from Tilak Bhawan to the District Magistrate’s office before burning an effigy. In Sitapur, workers assembled near Gandhi’s statue at the Eye Hospital, marched through Lalbagh and staged the effigy-burning programme at GIC Chauraha.
In Mathura, Congress leaders and workers staged a protest at the residence of Gyanesh Kumar in Vijay Nagar Colony, Agra, demanding his arrest, removal from office and an independent review of changes made during his tenure. Mathura city Congress workers also organised a motorcycle rally of around 200–250 bikes from the party office to Holi Gate.
Nishad said similar protest programmes were organised by district and city Congress units throughout Uttar Pradesh, with party workers demanding accountability and an independent examination of electoral-roll changes and decisions taken during Kumar’s tenure.
