Cancel 2024 Varanasi LS polls: UP Cong chief

 Varanasi: Uttar Pradesh Congress chief Ajay Rai demanded the arrest of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) row, calling him a ‘corrupt and dishonest person’.

Speaking to reporters in Agra, Rai also demanded that the 2024 Lok Sabha election in Varanasi, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi won, be cancelled and the polls be reconducted, claiming that Kumar helped rig the voting to ensure the Bharatiya Janata Party’s victory.

The UP Congress chief had contested the Lok Sabha polls in Varanasi against Modi and lost by 1,52,513 votes.

Gyanesh Kumar, a 1988-batch Indian Administrative Service officer of the Kerala cadre, was appointed as the election commissioner on March 15, 2024, following his retirement. He later took charge as the 26th Chief Election Commissioner on February 19, 2025.

“Gyanesh Kumar is a corrupt officer and a dishonest person. He is the one who orchestrated a fraudulent election victory. He ensured (Narendra) Modi’s win by rigging the election across the entire state, and he continues to aid the BJP and Modi. The person who helped form the (BJP) government did so by stealing our votes, by resorting to dishonesty,” he added.

“He should be arrested, and the (2024 Lok Sabha) election in Varanasi must be cancelled. A re-election should be held. Elections in the states where voting took place during Gyanesh Kumar’s tenure should also be cancelled and re-conducted. This is our demand,” the UP Congress chief said.