New Delhi, October 9: The Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) has joined the Opposition’s demand for the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, providing fresh momentum to the campaign ahead of a planned march to meet President Droupadi Murmu on Friday. The Opposition is seeking Kumar’s resignation over alleged irregularities linked to the Election Commission of India’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise.
BRS working president and former Telangana minister K T Rama Rao publicly expressed his party’s position through a post on social media platform X. He argued that no Indian citizen should be deprived of the right to vote and called for Kumar’s removal.
“Nothing is greater than the Constitution of India. And no Indian citizen can be stripped of their right to vote. Gyanesh Kumar must go!” Rao wrote, adding that no individual should be considered more important than an institution.
Rao also called on the Supreme Court to take suo motu cognisance of the alleged irregularities surrounding the SIR exercise and order an independent investigation led by a sitting judge. He questioned why the authorities were so determined to protect one individual when the voting rights of millions of citizens were at stake.
The BRS’s position is significant because the party has not always aligned itself with the Congress-led Opposition. The BRS is the principal Opposition party in Telangana, where the Congress is in power. On several occasions, the party has also extended support to the Narendra Modi government on parliamentary matters.
the BRS’s statement came after the Trinamool Congress, led by former West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, reached out to the party to broaden support for the demand for Kumar’s removal. TMC Rajya Sabha floor leader Derek O’Brien welcomed the BRS’s position, although he indicated that the party was unlikely to participate directly in the Opposition’s protests.
The development comes amid an intensifying political confrontation between the Opposition and the Election Commission. For the past three days, Opposition lawmakers have been protesting in Delhi, with demonstrations and confrontations with police reported at different locations. On Thursday, leaders staged a sit-in at the Rajghat memorial complex, demanding action against the Chief Election Commissioner.
The controversy gained further momentum following an investigation published by The Indian Express. The report alleged that election commissioners S S Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had raised objections to decisions concerning the SIR exercise on at least 14 occasions between November 2025 and August 2026. It also reported that concerns had been communicated to the Cabinet Secretary and that election officials had allegedly faced restrictions on accessing the Election Commission’s software.
Meanwhile, the Opposition has announced a broader campaign under the banner of “Save Democracy”. Apart from the planned march to Rashtrapati Bhawan, the parties are preparing a rally at Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan on November 1. They have also announced plans for marches from Rajasthan, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh on Constitution Day, November 26, along with further rallies and legal action.
With the BRS now publicly backing the demand for Kumar’s removal, the political debate surrounding the SIR exercise is likely to intensify. The allegations remain contested, and the Opposition is pressing for an independent investigation into the electoral revision process.
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