A Congress protest against alleged irregularities in the voter list revision process ended with the arrest of Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee president Mahesh Kumar Goud, several state ministers and other party leaders in Hyderabad on Thursday. The protesters were detained near Lok Bhavan after marching from the Indira Gandhi statue on Necklace Road.
The demonstration, organised under the banner of ‘Chalo Lok Bhavan’, was aimed at opposing what Congress leaders described as discrepancies in the voter list revision process being undertaken across the country. The party also demanded the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
Congress leaders and activists took out a rally from Necklace Road towards Lok Bhavan. Tension prevailed as the protest reached the Governor’s residence, where police arrested Goud and ministers Ponnam Prabhakar, Sridhar Babu, Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy, Vakiti Srihari and Adluri Laxman Kumar, among others, according to Telangana Today.
Transport Minister Ponnam Prabhakar said the alleged irregularities had created public suspicion about the voter list revision process. He said the Election Commission was responsible for protecting the right to vote and called for measures to ensure transparency and restore public confidence in the electoral system.
Prabhakar demanded the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and urged the Central government and the Election Commission to address concerns surrounding the revision exercise. The minister said voter registration and roll revision were central to the functioning of the democratic system, according to the report.
The protest also featured criticism of the reported arrests of Lok Sabha Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi and MPs of the INDIA bloc during a separate demonstration. Prabhakar described those arrests as illegal and undemocratic, while saying that the Congress would continue its campaign to uphold democratic and constitutional values.
The arrests brought a state-level political mobilisation in Hyderabad into direct confrontation with restrictions around a sensitive government and constitutional institution. The immediate dispute centred on the voter list revision process, while the next steps will depend on the response of the Election Commission and the Central government to the demands raised by the protesters.
