Left parties hold sit-in in Kolkata, demand CEC's removal over SIR 'irregularities'

The Left parties on Thursday staged a sit-in at Esplanade in central Kolkata, demanding the removal and arrest of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

The protesters also demanded the immediate scrapping of the voter list revision exercise, alleging that political considerations and electoral interests had influenced the selection of the Chief Election Commissioner.

Addressing the demonstration, Left Front chairman Biman Bose accused the authorities of politicising the process of appointing members to the Election Commission.

"Politicisation and influencing the selection process of the Election Commission is unprecedented," Bose said.

He claimed that public anger had been growing across the country against the Chief Election Commissioner over the conduct of the electoral roll revision.

Bose asserted that sustained public demonstrations would eventually force Kumar to step down.

"The agitations and protests will continue till Kumar resigns as the CEC and is arrested," he said.

Members of several Left organisations, including the CPI(M), CPI(ML) and SUCI (Communist), participated in the demonstration, expressing opposition to the SIR exercise and questioning the Election Commission's functioning.

The demonstration reflected the Left parties' continuing campaign against the electoral roll revision and the process of appointing election commissioners. The parties have argued that the independence of the poll panel must be protected and that eligible voters should not be excluded from electoral rolls.

The Election Commission has maintained that the revision exercise is intended to ensure accurate electoral rolls and remove ineligible entries. It has also previously said that decisions relating to the SIR received unanimous approval from all three election commissioners.

The Left parties, however, have continued to question the exercise and demanded accountability from the poll panel, with Bose reiterating that their agitation would continue until Kumar was removed from office and arrested.