States » EastPosted at: Oct 6 2026 12:47PM


BJD Rajya Sabha MPs to Join Opposition Protest March, Targets CEC Over SIR

Bhubaneswar, Oct 6 (UNI) The Biju Janata Dal (BJD) Rajya Sabha MPswill join the Opposition parties' protest march in New Delhi on Tuesday demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and the reported deletion of voters' names across the country.
BJD Parliamentary Party leader in the Rajya Sabha Manas Mangaraj said the party's MPs would participate in the protest march as directed by party president and Leader of Opposition in the Odisha Assembly Naveen Patnaik.
Mangaraj said Patnaik had already demanded Kumar's resignation over his alleged role in the SIR exercise.
He said the alleged exclusion of more than 20 lakh voters in Odisha and over 13 crore voters across the country during the SIR process had raised serious concerns over the electoral roll revision exercise.
Referring to the Dhamnagar Assembly constituency in Odisha's Bhadrak district, Mangaraj alleged that 227 votes belonging to members of a minority community in a particular area were deleted without the knowledge of the concerned Booth Level Officers (BLOs).
He claimed that thousands of voters had reportedly been excluded from the electoral rolls in Dhamnagar and said the voluntary retirement application submitted by State Chief Electoral Officer R S Gopalan had further raised questions over the process.
Mangaraj also referred to the Supreme Court's recent observations on changes made to Form 6, saying they had raised questions over the Election Commission's earlier position on the matter. The Supreme Court has clarified that it had not approved the modifications to Form 6 and has sought an explanation from the Election Commission on the issue.
He alleged that the developments had raised questions about the Election Commission's handling of the SIR exercise and demanded accountability from the poll panel.
Mangaraj said the BJD had maintained equal distance from both the INDIA bloc and the NDA. However, as a responsible political party committed to protecting democratic institutions and the integrity of the electoral process, the BJD had decided to participate in Tuesday's protest march.
The Opposition march in Delhi is being held to press for the resignation of CEC Gyanesh Kumar amid continuing political and legal controversy over the SIR exercise.
UNI DP
Tags: #BJD Rajya Sabha MPs to Join Opposition Protest March# Targets CEC Over SIR
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