Left leaders on Saturday (October 31) accused Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar of undermining universal adult franchise through the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise, with CPI(M) MP John Brittas alleging that even elected representatives are being made to establish their eligibility to vote.
Speaking at the INDIA bloc’s “public impeachment” programme, Mr. Brittas said citizens who had exercised their franchise for decades are now finding their names deleted from electoral rolls, being summoned for hearings, and being told to prove their existence.
‘Make Rahul Gandhi a mock PM’: BJP slams INDIA bloc over mock Parliament
They should seat Rahul Gandhi ji as the mock Prime Minister in that very old structure. We have absolutely no objection. BJP ridicules INDIA bloc’s mock Parliament, defends SIR, political double standards, and highlights alleged vote protection amid poverty claims. The information was provided by Congress’ media and publicity department head Pawan Khera, who was involved with organising the symbolic public impeachment.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday (October 31, 2026) accused the Congress and its allies of ridiculing democratic institutions by staging a mock Parliament session, and said that Opposition parties had repeatedly disrupted proceedings in the real Parliament. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Saturday (October 31) demanded the immediate removal of CEC Gyanesh Kumar and the scrapping of the 2023 law providing immunity to the CEC, accusing the poll panel chief of working under the directions of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah.
At a press conference, BJP MP Sambit Patra referred to the structure resembling the old Parliament building erected for the mock Parliament session and said: “They want to retain everything from the old British-era structure… The chair on which former Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar sat while presiding over the INDIA bloc’s “public impeachment” of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar on Saturday (October 31) was once occupied by the country’s first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru.
