Bihar Congress stages protest against CEC Gyanesh Kumar; police use water cannons to halt march

The Bihar unit of Congress on Friday (September 25, 2026) protested in Patna as part of nationwide demonstrations called by the party over the functioning of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and the State police used water cannons to disperse party workers who attempted to reach the Chief Electoral Officer’s premises.

The Congress workers were holding placards and shouting slogans against Mr. Kumar and the National Democratic Alliance government at the Centre.

Election Commission row key highlights – September 25, 2026

The protesting workers gathered at R-Block thoroughfare in Patna to reach the local Election Commission (EC) office as part of the proposed march. The police used water cannons near the Bihar Assembly premises to disperse them from the site.

Independent MP from Purnea Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav was part of the protest.

The protesters were shouting slogans like ‘vote chor, chunav aayog chhod (vote thief, leave the Election Commission)’ and ‘BJP murdabad’. They also demanded an independent review of changes made in the electoral rolls since the special intensive revision (SIR) was carried out in the country.

“Now, the Congress party has called for a march to the district collector’s office in every district on September 28 in the second-leg of the protest,” said a Congress worker in the protest.

Meanwhile, Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) chief and Union Minister of Food Processing Industries Chirag Paswan told media persons in Patna that the Election Commission should “dispel misgivings from the minds of the people” that have arisen over the alleged differences within the poll panel over special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. He said that he did not intend to defend the Election Commission, a constitutional body, merely because he was “part of the government”.

Crores of voters’ names have reportedly been deleted from the electoral rolls in several States under SIR exercise, which began in Bihar in August 2025 ahead of the State Assembly elections and subsequently extended to other States in a phased manner.