States » NorthPosted at: Sep 25 2026 7:35PM


Himachal Congress leaders stage protest outside Election Commission office in Shimla

Shimla, September 25 (UNI) State Congress leaders, led by Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee (HPCC) president Vinay Kumar, staged a protest outside the Election Commission office at Kusumpti here on Friday, alleging that the poll panel had failed to function independently and demanding the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
Chief Minister Thakur Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, All India Congress Committee (AICC) in-charge of Himachal Pradesh Rajani Patil, Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri and members of the state Cabinet participated in the demonstration.
AICC secretaries and co-in-charges of Himachal Pradesh affairs Chetan Chauhan and Vidit Chaudhary, along with sitting and former legislators, HPCC office-bearers and senior party leaders, also joined the protest.
Representatives of the Shimla Urban and Rural District Congress Committees, Congress councillors of the Shimla Municipal Corporation, office-bearers of frontal organisations and a large number of party workers took part.
Addressing reporters on the sidelines of the protest, Rajani Patil alleged that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and other opposition leaders had been raising concerns over the electoral process for the past three years.
She said the Congress had intensified its campaign against what it termed “vote chori” and would take the issue to the people across the country.
Patil referred to a recent report in The Indian Express, claiming that two Election Commissioners had repeatedly disagreed with the Chief Election Commissioner on various matters. She alleged that their objections had been disregarded and said such functioning could have serious implications for democratic institutions and the Constitution.
“The fight that Rahul Gandhi is fighting is for the Constitution, and we will take this fight to the common people,” she said, adding that the Congress would continue its campaign through legal and political means.
Patil also criticised the legal safeguards available to members of the Election Commission, alleging that the existing system had made them effectively unaccountable. She claimed that Rahul Gandhi had submitted a dissent note during the selection process but that his objections were not given due consideration.
Responding to a question on alleged political pressure on the poll panel, Patil said, “If Gyanesh Kumar is doing the work of the BJP, then he should join the BJP.”
She demanded the removal of the Chief Election Commissioner and said the Congress would intensify its agitation if he did not resign or was not removed. She said the party would mobilise people on the issue and referred to alleged irregularities raised in connection with elections in Haryana, Maharashtra, West Bengal and Bihar.
Patil, said she would meet district Congress presidents to review organisational work and assess preparations at the constituency level.
She said the party planned to visit every Assembly constituency to evaluate its ground-level preparedness.
HPCC president Vinay Kumar said the immediate objective of Friday’s demonstration was to seek the removal of Gyanesh Kumar and legal action against him. Referring to the same media report, he alleged that two of the three Election Commission members had raised objections to the CEC’s functioning on several occasions.
“He should be removed immediately, and an FIR should be registered against him,” Vinay Kumar said.
He announced that the Congress would hold protests across all districts of Himachal Pradesh on Monday and Tuesday as part of a wider public mobilisation campaign.
The demonstrations would focus on electoral transparency, the functioning of the Election Commission and alleged irregularities in the electoral process.
During Friday’s protest, Congress leaders and workers signed a representation against the Election Commission, while an effigy of Gyanesh Kumar was also burnt.
UNI BN
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