The protest was co-organised by civil society, human rights, farmers’, Dalit, youth and student organisations, and drew students, activists, academics, professionals and workers. (Express Photo)

Hundreds of people formed a human chain at Hyderabad’s Tank Bund along Hussain Sagar Lake on Saturday evening, demanding the scrapping of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and the repeal of the CEC Act, 2023. They also demanded the immediate restoration of all deleted voters, claiming that the SIR exercise could disenfranchise nearly half of Telangana’s electorate.

“We refuse to be silenced by the repressive Modi Government which stands exposed,” one protester said.

Waving the Tricolour and raising slogans against mass disenfranchisement, participants accused Kumar of acting as an “agent of the BJP Govt”. They said the two other Election Commissioners had raised 14 formal objections over the past year, which were disregarded.…