Addressing protesters before the march, Dotasra accused the chief election commissioner of irregularities in the SIR process and alleged that Kumar had “looted democracy”. He said the protest was the beginning of a wider campaign that Congress workers would take across Rajasthan.
Gehlot alleged that democratic institutions were being weakened and called on Congress workers to remain alert and engage with people over the issue.
Referring to the recently held urban local body elections in Rajasthan, Gehlot also alleged that the Congress lost because of “arbitrary and wrong” delimitation of wards. He further accused the government of misusing the police and administration. These claims were made by Gehlot and were not independently established in the material provided.
Randhawa accused the BJP of trying to end democracy and said Congress would take its campaign to people across the state.
The protest comes amid a wider confrontation between the Congress and the Election Commission over SIR and the functioning of the poll panel.
An Indian Express report published on 25 September said Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had separately written to Cabinet Secretary TV Somanathan after a work-allocation order was issued within the Election Commission.
The report said the commissioners had raised concerns that the order could concentrate powers relating to adding or deleting names and updating voter records at the central level rather than with officials at the state level.
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