Lagatar24 Desk
Ranchi: The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) staged a protest at Albert Ekka Chowk in Ranchi, burning an effigy of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and demanding his resignation over the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process and the functioning of the Election Commission.
“Democracy Being Murdered,” Alleges MP Mahua Maji
Addressing the protest, JMM MP Mahua Maji alleged that the public was being played with and that democracy was being murdered, asserting that an institution like the Election Commission must remain autonomous. Invoking former CEC T.N. Seshan, she said the current Chief Election Commissioner was undoing the standards he had once established.
Centre Accused of Covering Up Internal EC Dissent
Maji pointed to allegations by two election commissioners that several decisions had been taken without their consent, accusing the central government of trying to cover up the matter. She said the protest would not subside until the CEC either resigned or was removed from his post. She also raised concerns over the deletion of names from voter lists, warning that if the trend continued, people could eventually be denied recognition as citizens of the country, which in turn could affect access to education, employment, bank accounts and hospital services for their children.
JMM Demands SIR Process Be Scrapped and Restarted
On the SIR exercise underway in Jharkhand, Maji demanded that it be scrapped entirely and restarted afresh, questioning the rationale of continuing with a process already facing allegations of irregularities and conspiracy. She pointed out that a large number of people migrate to other states for work, making it difficult for them to preserve decades-old documents, and questioned how their rights could be denied merely for lacking such paperwork. She said people should not be made strangers in their own country, adding that the JMM would continue raising the issue and keep up its demand regarding the SIR process going forward.
