Protesters in Hyderabad demand CEC Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation, scrapping of SIR

Demonstrators stage a protest at Dharna Chowk, Indira Park, Hyderabad, on Saturday (October 3, 2026) demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and opposing the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. | Photo Credit: RAMAKRISHNA G

A protest demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar and the scrapping of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls was held at Dharna Chowk in Hyderabad on Saturday (October 3, 2026), with demonstrators alleging that the exercise could exclude large sections of voters from the electoral rolls.

The protest began with a Hindi rendition of Bella Ciao, the Italian anti-resistance song, with protesters dubbing SIR as ‘Special Intensive Resistance’. The demonstration was organised by 12 organisations, including the Telangana unit of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) and the Telangana People’s Front (TPF).

The three demands

The protesters raised three demands, the resignation of Mr. Gyanesh Kumar, selection of the Chief Election Commissioner through a process that includes the Chief Justice of India (CJI), and scrapping of the SIR exercise.

Speakers at the protest gathering alleged that the SIR was the National Register of Citizens (NRC) through the back door. The allegations came amid a wider national controversy over the deletion of names from electoral rolls during the revision exercise. The protesters claimed that 13 crore names had been excluded from draft electoral rolls across States and Union Territories.