Leaders of several Opposition parties on Wednesday announced a ‘Chalo Raj Bhavan’ programme in Vijayawada on October 10, demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over what they alleged was large-scale deletion of voters’ names from electoral rolls.

CPI(M) State secretary V. Srinivasa Rao said political parties, people’s organisations and civil society groups would join the programme as part of a wider movement to protect the right to vote. He said all non-BJP parties had been invited to participate and claimed that the YSR Congress Party had already agreed to join. The TDP would also be invited, he said.

Mr. Srinivasa Rao alleged that Mr. Gyanesh Kumar had become embroiled in the “vote theft” controversy and claimed that the Election Commission had not been consulted over changes relating to Form 6. He said the issue had come to light following a statement attributed to the Supreme Court that it had not approved any such changes.

He also referred to allegations made by a former Chief Secretary of Kerala regarding the CEC's political affiliations and alleged that the Election Commission had acted in favour of the BJP. He demanded that Mr. Gyanesh Kumar step down, describing the developments as a “dark chapter” in the country's history.

Congress leader Kolanukonda Sivaji said protests against the CEC were being held across the country, but alleged that the Union government had failed to respond. He demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah clarify their position on the issue.

CPI State secretariat member D. Shankar alleged that the democratic rights of citizens had been undermined and claimed that 13 crore people had been deprived of their voting rights. He alleged that the CEC was functioning as a “chief agent” of the BJP and appealed to people to join the movement to protect democracy.

New Democracy leaders Chittipati Venkateswarlu and M. Ramakrishna criticised the police handling of protests and appealed to people to participate in the campaign for voting rights.

MCPI(U) leader Khader Basha demanded that Mr. Modi and Mr. Shah respond to the allegations. CPI(M) State secretariat member Y. Venkateswara Rao also attended the press conference.