Deputy CM Bhatti Vikramarka, TPCC chief Mahesh Kumar Goud and senior leaders join Hyderabad rally; party seeks greater transparency in electoral-roll revision
Hyderabad, Sept 2026 : The ruling Congress in Telangana staged a major protest in Hyderabad on Monday, demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over what the party described as irregularities and lack of transparency in the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
The demonstration was held as part of a nationwide protest called by the All India Congress Committee (AICC). Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) leaders and workers gathered near the Indira Gandhi statue on Necklace Road before marching towards the Election Commission office at BRK Bhavan near the Secretariat.
Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, TPCC president Mahesh Kumar Goud, Ministers D. Sridhar Babu and Ponnam Prabhakar, MP Chamala Kiran Kumar Reddy and other senior Congress leaders participated in the protest. Party leaders later submitted a memorandum to Telangana Chief Electoral Officer C. Sudharsan Reddy, seeking action on their concerns and demanding Kumar’s resignation.
The protesters raised slogans against the Election Commission and the BJP-led Central government and carried placards featuring slogans such as “Vote Chori”. The demonstration focused particularly on the Congress’s allegations that eligible voters could be affected by changes made during the SIR exercise.
The party’s campaign follows reports of disagreements within the Election Commission over aspects of electoral-roll revision. Congress leaders have sought an explanation from the poll panel regarding reported objections raised by Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi on various aspects of the SIR process. An earlier report said the two commissioners had raised objections on multiple occasions over a 10-month period.
Addressing the gathering, Bhatti Vikramarka said Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s repeated warnings about alleged “vote theft” had been vindicated. He alleged that the deletion of voters’ names under the SIR exercise raised serious concerns about citizens’ constitutional right to vote.
Carrying a copy of the Constitution, Bhatti appealed to political parties and organisations committed to democratic values to join the Congress campaign. He said the party would continue its efforts to ensure that eligible citizens were not deprived of their voting rights.
“The right to vote is the lifeblood of democracy,” Bhatti said, arguing that protecting electoral rights should be a collective responsibility of political parties and democratic institutions. He also said the Congress would continue its campaign until its concerns were addressed.
TPCC president Mahesh Kumar Goud accused the Election Commission of compromising its autonomy and alleged that it was functioning under the influence of the BJP-led Central government. He described the situation as unprecedented and demanded greater accountability from the poll panel.
Congress leaders have also sought detailed information on electoral-roll changes, including the reasons for deletions and the mechanism through which such changes were authorised. Before Monday’s protest, Goud had called for greater transparency regarding reported objections within the Election Commission and sought explanations about the SIR process.
The controversy over SIR has expanded beyond Telangana, with Congress organising protests in several states on Monday seeking Kumar’s removal and raising concerns about electoral-roll revisions.
Former minister Danam Nagender also called for judicial scrutiny of the allegations and said the Supreme Court should take suo motu cognisance of the matter.
The Congress’s protest comes amid an ongoing political dispute over the functioning of the Election Commission and the implementation of SIR. While the Congress has questioned the process and demanded greater transparency, the Election Commission has maintained that decisions relating to the SIR exercise were taken unanimously.
Monday’s demonstration in Hyderabad thus combined the Congress’s national campaign against the CEC with its broader demand for greater transparency in electoral-roll revision. The party said it would continue raising the issue at both the state and national levels, particularly over the protection of eligible voters’ names and their right to participate in elections.
