New Delhi, Sep 29 (PTI) Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Tuesday called for Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar's immediate removal over alleged SIR "irregularities" and also demanded Prime Minister Narendra Modi's resignation on moral grounds for "pressuring" the poll panel chief.In his opening address at the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting here, Kharge also put forward five demands of his party, including making public the complete data regarding every major change made to the electoral rolls and providing political parties with the electoral rolls and relevant data in a simple format and in a timely manner. Kharge also demanded an independent and time-bound inquiry wherever evidence of serious discrepancies emerges. That voters whose names have been removed must be fully informed and given an opportunity to appeal, and there must be such transparency in the critical data and decisions related to the election process so that no party has grounds to claim that information is being withheld, the Congress chief said. Most importantly, the voters of India must have confidence that their vote is secure, Kharge said.

 "We do not view this issue merely as a battle to win or lose an election. Elections come and go, and governments change, but democracy and the Constitution are enduring. This is the foundation of Indian democracy. We must convey to every citizen that in a democracy, the most powerful person is the ordinary voter -- not the prime minister, the chief minister, or a leader in power," he said. The CWC meeting, chaired by Kharge, is being attended by former party chiefs Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, party general secretaries Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Jairam Ramesh, KC Venugopal, Sachin Pilot, Mukul Wasnik, and senior leaders P Chidambaram, among others, attended the meetingChief ministers of Congress-ruled states -- DK Shivakumar (Karnataka), V D Satheesan (Kerala), A Revanth Reddy (Telangana) and Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu (Himachal Pradesh) -- also participated in the meeting.

 Addressing the crucial meeting, Kharge said electoral rolls must be transparent, the election process fair, institutions independent, and the vote of every eligible citizen secure."This is the spirit of the Constitution; this is the soul of democracy. The Congress will never shy away from this democratic responsibility. We must do whatever it takes-from the streets to Parliament-to ensure this," he said. "History bears witness that ten years ago, this very prime minister devastated India's economy with the decision of 'Notebandi (demonetisation)'. And now, ten years later, he is destroying our robust democracy through a conspiracy of 'Votebandi (voter disenfranchisement)'," the Congress chief said. Kharge said the poor bear the brunt of all the "flawed policies" of the PM. He said the vote is the most powerful weapon for the poor, Dalits, the underprivileged, and the exploited sections of society. "That is why Modi ji wants to take away this right, but we will not allow that to happen," he stressed.

 Kharge said two Election Commissioners themselves have described the CEC's actions as arbitrary and improper, and the entire nation is now aware that his consistent efforts have been aimed at benefiting the ruling party. "Under these circumstances, he has no right to remain in office and should be removed immediately. Furthermore, the prime minister-under whose pressure he acted in this manner-should himself resign on moral grounds," Kharge said.Noting that elections in five states are coming up, the Congress chief said it is crucial to ensure that no voter is deprived of their rights. "We must guarantee that every individual's vote is secure and the elections are fair, thereby maintaining the public's trust in India's electoral process. Only then will India's future remain secure and democracy continue to flourish," he said. Kharge pointed out that during the Constituent Assembly debates, BR Ambedkar described the right to vote as the most fundamental element of democracy.

 "Yet, today, the exact opposite is happening. The protector has turned into the predator. The very entity empowered by the Constitution-tasked with being the guardian of the people's vote-has become a plunderer of votes. How can the nation place its trust in a Chief Election Commissioner whom his own colleagues do not trust?" he said. In December 1988, then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi lowered the voting age from 21 to 18 to empower the youth, he said. "In contrast, we have Prime Minister Modi, who is so aggrieved with Gen Z that he has hatched a conspiracy to disenfranchise the youth. He quietly altered the rules regarding Form 6. This is entirely illegal," Kharge alleged. Kharge also hailed Rahul Gandhi for raising the issues related to "vote chori", saying they have all now proven to be genuinely correct.

 The meeting comes days after The Indian Express claimed that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had objected on record at least 14 times over the past 10 months to decisions and orders on SIR that they said were issued without their knowledge or recommendation.Under fire over the red flags raised by two of its commissioners over the SIR process, the EC has asserted that differing views and observations are a normal part of deliberations in any institution and all its orders carry full legal sanction and follow established statutory procedures. 

/Agencies