Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday accused the Modi government of using every possible trick to protect Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. Kharge alleged massive vote theft and demanded Kumar’s resignation. He urged people to join the 1 November 'Dilli Chalo' march to save the Constitution and protect Indian democracy.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday accused the Modi government of using every possible means to protect Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar despite what he described as "countless revelations of vote theft".

In a post on X, Kharge said the Election Commission had refused to disclose information about the software used in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, citing "trade secrets". He reiterated his demand for Kumar's resignation.

Kharge also urged people to join the 'Dilli Chalo' march on 1 November and attend a public rally against alleged "vote chori" at Ramlila Maidan in Delhi. He said the movement was not merely about protecting votes but also about safeguarding democracy.

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Alleging irregularities in Uttar Pradesh, Kharge claimed that details of 16.18 lakh Form 6 applications had not been made public. He also alleged that discrepancies had been detected in the records of 10,470 voters in Pilibhit. According to him, the authorities had now been compelled to order an investigation into Forms 6, 7 and 8 across the state.

Outlining the INDIA bloc's demands, Kharge called for Kumar's resignation, the repeal of the 2023 law that provides legal protection to the Chief Election Commissioner, and an immediate halt to the SIR exercise. He also demanded the restoration of voters' names allegedly removed illegally and called for all elections to be conducted using paper ballots.

"This is not just a fight to save votes; it is a people's struggle to save the Constitution and democracy," Kharge said.

The Congress leader opened his post by accusing the Modi government of resorting to every possible measure to protect Kumar despite what he termed repeated revelations of vote theft.

On Sunday, the Congress had accused the Election Commission of withholding information about its ECINET software. The party alleged that the poll body's repeated refusals to disclose the information were aimed at concealing what it described as "massive, centralised manipulation" during the SIR exercise.