COIMBATORE: The Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) held a protest before the Coimbatore South tahsildar’s office on Friday demanding the immediate resignation of chief election commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar and greater transparency in the functioning of the Election Commission of India (ECI). This was part of a state-wide protest by SDPI.SDPI state spokesman V M Abuthahir alleged that the CEC’s decisions had undermined public confidence in the electoral process and were being taken under political pressure. He demanded withdrawal of the rules and procedures related to the special intensive revision (SIR), particularly those concerning enrolment of new voters, alleging that they were introduced without consultation with the other election commissioners.The protesters sought transparency in the appointment of election commissioners, details of the software used in electronic voting machines (EVMs) and greater clarity on SIR and voter-list verification.On Friday morning, a group of youth and activists staged a protest before the south tahsildar office. Aravinth, who organised the protest, said, “Verification and correction mechanisms should be strengthened before publication of the final electoral roll, particularly for voters marked as deceased, shifted, absent or having logical discrepancies.”The protesters sought a public explanation over the exclusion of 97 eligible voters in Goa and the functioning of ECINET.
