Bhubaneswar: Four Left parties — CPI, CPM, CPI(ML) Liberation and Forward Bloc — staged a demonstration at Lower PMG on Saturday, protesting what they described as denial of voting rights to eligible citizens during special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. They also raised concerns over transparency of the electoral process and independence of Election Commission of India (ECI).Supporters marched to the site and held a meeting, alleging that eligible citizens were being excluded from the rolls on grounds such as administrative errors, software issues, unclear documentation and opaque procedures.Addressing the gathering, CPM state secretary Suresh Panigrahy said the right to vote was a core democratic right and that preparation, revision and deletion of names from electoral rolls must be transparent, impartial, lawful and verifiable.CPI state secretary Prashant Kumar Mishra claimed election commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had raised objections on at least 14 occasions relating to voter registration, deletion and restoration of names, the SIR process and management of electoral data. He said concerns over centralisation of electoral databases and handling of voter data required scrutiny. “Such serious questions cannot be answered merely through statements,” he said.In a joint statement, the parties demanded removal of chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and an independent inquiry into the allegations raised against him. They also called for an immediate halt to SIR and restoration of names of all eligible voters allegedly excluded from the rolls.CPI(ML) Liberation state secretary Yudhishthir Mohapatra said independent and transparent functioning of ECI must be restored. The parties also sought implementation of Supreme Court guidelines on appointment of election commissioners.Centre has rejected allegations of wrongdoing, calling them misleading. It said all decisions of Commission were taken unanimously with the approval of commissioners.
