Sachin Pilot Says Congress and INDIA Bloc Will Continue Agitation Against CEC Gyanesh Kumar

Congress general secretary Sachin Pilot has said the party and the INDIA bloc will continue their agitation demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. Speaking at the India Today Conclave Mumbai, Pilot asserted that the Opposition would pursue the campaign to its “logical conclusion”, signalling that the protests would continue until the party achieved its stated objective. The Congress has accused the Election Commission of overseeing a revision process that could lead to the illegal disenfranchisement of voters, making the issue a major point of confrontation between the Opposition and the BJP.

Pilot said the agitation reflected broader public dissatisfaction among young people, the middle class and farming communities. He described a growing sense of unease among sections of the population, arguing that political parties needed to recognise these concerns rather than dismiss them. “I can't tell the future, but I can tell you certainly one thing that I sense there is a palpable sense of unrest amongst a large section of people,” he said. He added that people believed “something is amiss” and that corrective action was necessary.

The Congress leader maintained that the campaign was about more than organising street protests against the Election Commission. He said the principal Opposition party had a responsibility to raise public concerns and offer an alternative to the government. “If people have to have a plan B or an alternate option, we must be there to provide that,” Pilot said. His remarks placed the agitation within the Congress's broader political effort to present itself and the INDIA bloc as credible alternatives while mobilising people around concerns over electoral transparency and voting rights.

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Pilot made it clear that the party did not intend to withdraw from the campaign. “There is no backing down on this (agitation),” he said, reiterating that the Congress and its allies would continue to press their demands. He also called for sustained mobilisation across states instead of limiting the movement to demonstrations directed at the Centre. According to Pilot, the party had already organised three demonstrations within nine days at the block, district and state-capital levels, indicating its effort to build pressure through different layers of its organisation.

The agitation has intensified the political confrontation between the Congress-led Opposition and the BJP over the Election Commission's handling of the electoral roll revision. The Congress has demanded Kumar's resignation and has also called for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah to step down. These demands form part of the Opposition's wider challenge to the government's handling of the issue. Pilot's remarks underscored the party's position that concerns about electoral processes and the protection of voters' rights require a sustained political response, although the allegations surrounding the revision remain contested.

Pilot said the immediate challenge was to acknowledge public concerns and provide them with a constructive political outlet. “Let's first accept that things need to be fixed,” he said, arguing that dissatisfaction could become a basis for change if it was channelled through an organised movement. The Congress intends to continue its demonstrations and maintain pressure on the Election Commission, with Pilot reaffirming that the campaign would not end with isolated protests. He said the party would persist until it reached its “logical conclusion”, maintaining the demand for Kumar's resignation as a central objective of the agitation.

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