Two Congress leaders have been arrested in Agra after a protest outside the parental residence of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar turned into a police case involving charges including attempt to murder.
Congress state general secretary (organisation) Anil Yadav and Mathura district Congress president Mukesh Dhangar were among eight people named in an FIR registered on Monday following the demonstration at Kumar’s residence in Vijay Nagar. Police have also named 15–20 unidentified people in connection with the incident.
According to the FIR, the protesters gathered outside the house amid the ongoing political controversy surrounding the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. The police complaint alleges that the group attempted to enter the premises and painted slogans on the walls and main gate. Police later removed the markings.
The situation reportedly escalated when a home guard, identified as Dinesh Kumar, tried to prevent the group from entering the property. The FIR alleges that the protesters surrounded him and struck him on the head with a solid object, leaving him unconscious. Police took the injured home guard to a nearby health facility for treatment.
The complaint was filed by Gaurav Kumar Gupta, in-charge of the Ring Road police outpost in Agra. Police have invoked several provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, including Section 109(2), relating to attempt to murder, as well as provisions concerning voluntarily causing hurt or grievous hurt to a public servant, wrongful restraint, assault on a public servant, rioting, house trespass and criminal intimidation. Section 7 of the Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1932, has also been included.
The FIR further alleges that protesters used provocative language against the Chief Election Commissioner, police personnel and the district administration. It also states that the gathering caused disruption in the locality before dispersing after additional police forces arrived.
The protest was part of wider demonstrations by Congress against the Election Commission and CEC Gyanesh Kumar. The party has been questioning the functioning of the poll panel and raising allegations concerning the SIR process. Congress has also demanded Kumar’s resignation. These allegations are political claims and have not been established by a court.
The controversy centres on the Election Commission’s electoral-roll revision exercise. Opposition parties have alleged irregularities in the process, while the Election Commission has maintained that its decisions, including those concerning SIR, were taken according to the applicable legal framework. The Commission has also said that differences of opinion within a multi-member institution can occur and has maintained that final decisions were approved by all three Election Commissioners.
Police are now examining CCTV footage and other evidence to identify additional people who may have participated in the protest. The case has added a criminal-law dimension to an already heated political dispute over the Election Commission and the electoral-roll revision process.
The arrests and FIR are likely to keep attention focused on the Agra incident as political parties continue their wider campaign over the functioning of the Election Commission and the SIR exercise.
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