Congress workers face water cannons in Patna

A protest by Congress party workers escalated on Friday as police deployed water cannons to stop demonstrators marching toward the State Election Commission office, demanding the resignation of chief election commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar over alleged arbitrary decisions in the electoral process

A protest by Congress party workers escalated on Friday as police deployed water cannons to stop demonstrators marching toward the State Election Commission office, demanding the resignation of chief election commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar over alleged arbitrary decisions in the electoral process.

Police use water cannons to stop the Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee members and supporters during a protest march in Patna, Friday. (SANTOSH KUMAR/HT)

The protest, organised by the Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee (BPCC) in line with the All India Congress Committee’s (AICC) call against the CEC and what the party terms his “acts of omission and commission,” was led by BPCC president Rajesh Ram. Independent MP from Purnea Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav also joined the protest along with his supporters.

The march was taken out from R-Block roundabout and proceeded towards the election office amid shouting of slogans and display of placards targeting the Election Commission. Police blocked the route near the MLC quarters on Atal Path with barricades. When demonstrators pressed ahead, officers used water cannons to push them back. Scuffles broke out as workers tried to breach the cordon. Some protesters burned an effigy of the CEC, which police attempted to extinguish with the water jets.

He demanded Gyanesh Kumar’s immediate resignation, a public apology, and the cancellation of elections conducted under his leadership in various states, including Bihar, alleging that voter mapping had been manipulated to benefit the BJP. Purnea MP Pappu Yadav, who joined the Congress-led protest, went further, declaring that the CEC ‘should be hanged’.

The march drew a large contingent of Congress leaders and workers, among them disciplinary panel chief Kapildev Prasad Yadav, former minister Kripanath Pathak, MLA Manoj Vishwas, media department head Rajesh Rathore and several former MLAs and party functionaries. Workers carried placards condemning the CEC and raised continuous slogans for his ouster.

In a parallel show of opposition, the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) also took to the streets in Patna and other districts. RJD workers marched from the party office on Beer Chand Patel Path to Income Tax roundabout, where they burned an effigy of Gyanesh Kumar. Similar effigy burnings were reported from Nalanda, Purnea and Muzaffarpur. The dual protests underscored the wider opposition unease over the ECI’s handling of electoral rolls and recent state elections.