Hyderabad: More than 300 people, including local members of the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) and nearly 10 social pressure groups, gathered at Indira Park’s Dharna Chowk in Hyderabad Saturday, voicing three key demands: the rollback of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) and Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation. The protest was held in solidarity with voters whose names were allegedly deleted as part of the electoral revision process conducted under Kumar over the past few months.
As many as 13 crore voters have reportedly been struck off the draft rolls for 3o states and Union territories. The controversy intensified further after a report in The Indian Express last month alleged the CEC was repeatedly questioned by the two other Election Commission (EC) members over decisions related to the SIR, including changes to the process for enrolling new voters and the security of electoral rolls.
The EC has since ordered a drive to enrol the voters “left out”, among other steps to streamline the controversial process. These include a review of ECINet, the centralised Election Commission (EC) portal that was launched this January and is now at the centre of the ongoing row for allegedly aiding indiscriminate deletions in the SIR by constraining the powers of electoral registration officers, tasked by the law to maintain electoral rolls.
Much like the protests in other Indian cities, the participants in Hyderabad arrived with flags, placards and banners calling for a more transparent process of correcting the electoral rolls. The dharna—led by the Telangana People’s Front (TPF), a newly formed pressure group with political ambitions—began at 10 am and went on until 4 pm. Participants included voters whose names were deleted during the SIR.
“With CEC Gyanesh Kumar’s colleagues questioning his demeanour and decision-making, the office of the CEC stands compromised. Therefore, this is a peaceful protest and a call asking for him to resign on moral grounds,” M.V. Reddy, a retired IAS officer and co-founder of the Telangana People’s Front, told ThePrint.
“The unprecedented voter deletion and issuance of notices for small errors show the CEC’s high-handedness.”
Apart from the aforementioned demands, the protesters also sought the repeal of the CEC Act 2023, alleging it gives the executive overwhelming influence in appointments to the election watchdog.
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‘Will continue to put pressure on govt’
Speakers at the dharna—including leaders of the TPF and other groups such as the Voters Rights Forum, Telangana for Peace and Unity, All India People’s Mission, and National Association of People’s Movements—raised questions about ECINet. They said the centrally operated and monitored software indiscriminately detects and deletes voters whose names fall under the ASDD—absentee, shifted, dead, and duplicate—category in electoral forms (when election authorities conduct the SIR, booth-level officers go door-to-door for physical verification to update the electoral rolls; during this process, voters who are not found at their registered addresses or have duplicate entries are categorised under ASDD). In Telangana alone, more than 73 lakh voters have been issued notices under the SIR exercise for various reasons, including name spelling mismatches.
The TFP has vowed “to continue putting pressure on the Centre until the CEC resigns by coordinating with various like-minded activists and civil society organisations”. “When we planned the protest and reached out to various organisations who sympathised with our cause, we reached out to the CJP as well,” said M.V. Reddy.
Speaking about the role of social pressure groups in Telangana, social activist Syed Majid said the transition of civil society organisations (CSOs), environmental groups, and citizen collectives from outside pressure groups to active regional political players is driven by growing friction within national political parties. “The launch of regional ‘outfits’ is the result of state-level breakaways, splinter groups, or localised mass movements when leaders fall out with national command structures,” he said. “We intend to influence both economics and politics in powerful ways, as, taken together, NGOs, professional associations, interest groups, youth and community circles, and social movements form an interconnected ecosystem,” he added.
Telangana People’s Front
The TPF took shape as a social pressure group two months ago, bringing together retired bureaucrats, urban policy experts, social activists, professionals, and public-spirited citizens. Its members intend to establish a full-fledged political party closer to the assembly elections in Telangana (due in 2028), some of the founding members told ThePrint.
Its stated goals are to provide quality and accessible education and healthcare for all, and dignified jobs and entrepreneurial opportunities, as well as support sustainable agriculture, promote an economic development model that protects the interests of common people, and lead a clean, corruption-free government.
Founding members include Prof Padmaja Shaw, retired civil servants Murali Akunuri and M.V. Reddy, urban policy expert Srujana Yadav, advocate Muppuri Kumar, social activist N. Rubina, and IT professional and entrepreneur Nikhil Vijay Krishna.
“We are an anti-Right, anti-fascist, socioeconomic justice platform, for whom the Indian Constitution will be a constant guiding light. Each of our members has at least a Master’s degree, and we are going to be a platform and a party that not just raises questions and leaves, but also offers credible solutions to the varied problems our society faces today,” Yadav said.
The TPF will be Telangana-based, and the members are currently charting a roadmap to name district in-charges and expand their organisational structure.
Distinguishing between the CJP, which emerged from youth resentment over concerns related to education and jobs, and the TPF, Srujana said, “We are planning a bus yatra to tour the entire state and understand people’s concerns. While we appreciate the CJP’s role in displaying courage and enthusiasm, the TPF is more than just a social movement. We are not an offshoot of any ideology, and we believe in providing institutionally solvable solutions.”