Photo Courtesy: India Today Group
Guwahati: Congress leader Gaurav Gogoi is taking aim at Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. He claims the Election Commission's Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls acts as a voter suppression tool. Gogoi compared the controversial exercise to the 2016 demonetisation policy. He publicly alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, and the broader BJP-RSS ecosystem are actively shielding Kumar to ensure the program continues. The strategy, according to Gogoi, aims to manage election outcomes in states like Bihar, West Bengal, Assam, and Uttar Pradesh.
The Supreme Court plans to hear a legal challenge regarding the West Bengal revision on October 5. This date falls just one day before the scheduled bypolls in Rejinagar and Nandigram. Thousands of voter appeals remain unresolved. Lawyers requested an earlier court date, but the Chief Justice refused because the contests involve only by-elections. Gogoi remains adamant that voting rights are the bedrock of the nation. “It does not matter whether they are elections for the Parliament, Assembly, municipality, panchayat, Sixth Schedule tribal autonomous councils, whether general or bye-elections,” he said.
Gogoi also focused on the Nagaon Lok Sabha by-election set for October 6. He argues the BJP wants to secure a two-thirds majority to pass the proposed Delimitation Bill, 2026. This legislation would trigger a massive reshuffle of Lok Sabha and state Assembly seats. Congress intends to introduce a formal motion against the Chief Election Commissioner in the near future. They are pressuring the Nagaon representative to oppose Kumar. The Election Commission defended its actions on September 26. They maintain that all decisions regarding the roll revisions were reached through a unanimous full-commission vote. The Nagaon seat is vacant after Pradyut Bordoloi resigned. Votes there will be counted on October 9.
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