Samajwadi Party Workers Protest in Lucknow and Agra Demanding Chief Election Commissioner’s Resignation

Samajwadi Party workers staged protests in Lucknow and Agra on October 8, 2026, demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and accusing the poll panel of vote theft.

In Lucknow, party members gathered at the city and district office before marching toward the collectorate. The demonstration saw participation from MPs, MLAs and senior office-bearers, including MP R.K. Chaudhary, legislators Arman Khan and Ravidas Malhotra, and Metropolitan President Fakhir Siddiqui. Protesters carried placards, banners, copies of the Constitution, and portraits of B.R. Ambedkar and SP chief Akhilesh Yadav. Some participants wore prisoner costumes or chains around their necks, while others pasted pictures of Gyanesh Kumar on their faces. Demonstrators raised slogans against the Election Commission and burnt an effigy of the Chief Election Commissioner outside the district administration office.

The protests concluded with the national anthem, amid heavy police deployment along the march route and at the collectorate.

According to party leaders, the demonstrations were carried out on the directives of Akhilesh Yadav. The primary grievances raised by the party centered on the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process. Party representatives alleged that the names of crores of people across the country and the state were wrongfully removed from electoral rolls during the exercise.

Metropolitan President Fakhir Siddiqui appealed for a peaceful demonstration while addressing party workers prior to the march, reiterating the demand for Kumar’s resignation and the reinstatement of deleted voters.

MP R.K. Chaudhary alleged a connection between the Election Commission and the Bharatiya Janata Party, claiming that the BJP defends the poll panel whenever the Samajwadi Party protests against it. He asserted that the alleged tampering with voting rights amounted to an assault on democracy that would not be tolerated. Senior leader Mohammad Ebad echoed these concerns, stating that millions of citizens had their voting rights compromised under the guise of the SIR process. The Samajwadi Party has demanded that authorities verify the deleted entries and restore all eligible voters to the electoral lists.