Youth Congress seeks probe into voter roll irregularities, CEC Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation

Pune: Maharashtra Pradesh Youth Congress president Shivraj More on Monday demanded an independent inquiry into alleged irregularities in electoral rolls and sought the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, saying Election Commission’s decision-making process must remain transparent.Addressing a news conference in Pune, More said complaints about deletion of voters’ names, changes in voter records and the process of adding or removing names from electoral rolls needed to be examined transparently.His demand came after a newspaper report said election commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had recorded at least 14 written objections over the past 10 months on decisions relating to voter registration, deletion of names, Form 6 changes and electoral-roll databases. “Every eligible citizen must have their name on the voter list and their right to vote must be protected. If questions have been raised within Election Commission itself, they cannot be dismissed as political allegations. There should be a transparent inquiry,” More said.He also raised concerns over voter lists in Maharashtra and demanded verification of complaints regarding missing names and errors in voter records. Youth Congress also raised the issue of unemployment and vacancies in govt departments. More demanded that the state govt publish department-wise figures of sanctioned, filled and vacant posts and announce a time-bound recruitment programme. “Lakhs of youngsters in Maharashtra have been preparing for competitive examinations for years. Govt should make the vacancy figures public and speed up recruitment,” More said, warning of a statewide agitation if the demands were not addressed.