Why Sachin Pilot says Congress won't stop until Gyanesh Kumar resigns

Congress general secretary Sachin Pilot assured the gathering at the India Today Conclave Mumbai recently that his party would not back down from its agitation against chief election commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar, asserting that the Congress and the INDIA bloc would pursue their campaign to its “logical conclusion”.Pilot linked the agitation to what he described as a palpable sense of unrest among young people, the middle class and farming communities. He argued that the Opposition had a responsibility to give this discontent a political platform, particularly amidst allegations of irregularities in the revision of electoral rolls.The Opposition campaign has demanded Kumar’s resignation over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and alleged illegal disenfranchisement of voters. The Congress has even gone ahead and demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and home minister Amit Shah step down. The Election Commission’s (EC) handling of SIR has become a major flashpoint between the Opposition and the BJP.“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,” Pilot said, adding that people felt “something is amiss” and it needed to be fixed. For Pilot, the agitation is not merely about street protests. He said the Congress, as the principal Opposition party, had an obligation to speak up and provide an alternative to the government. “If people have to have a plan B or an alternate option, we must be there to provide that,” he said.Making clear that the campaign would continue, Pilot said there was “no backing down” by the Congress or INDIA alliance. He stressed that the movement should extend beyond protests at the Centre, with sustained mobilisation in the states.Pointing to the Congress’s organisational efforts, Pilot said the party had held three demonstrations in nine days at the block, district and state-capital levels. He suggested that the response to the agitation reflected wider dissatisfaction that political parties needed to acknowledge before attempting to convert it into change.“Let's first accept that things need to be fixed,” he said, setting out the immediate political challenge as one of recognising public concerns and providing them with a constructive outlet.The remarks come amidst escalating Opposition protests against Kumar. The confrontation has also raised broader questions about electoral transparency, the protection of voters’ rights and confidence in the independence of the EC.Pilot’s message was unequivocal: the agitation would not end with isolated demonstrations. The party intends to sustain pressure on the EC and take its campaign to its “logical conclusion”.SESSION HIGHLIGHTSSachin Pilot* “There is a palpable sense of unrest amongst a large section of people.”* “There is a sense that something is amiss, something needs to be fixed.”* “If people have to have a Plan B or an alternative option, we must be there to provide that.”* “There is no backing down on this (agitation).”* “We will not stop till we reach our logical conclusion.”Subscribe to India Today Magazine- Ends