Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday accused the Narendra Modi government of protecting Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar amid allegations of electoral irregularities, citing alleged discrepancies in voter records in Uttar Pradesh and the Election Commission’s refusal to disclose information about the software used in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.In a post on X, Kharge alleged, “Even after countless revelations of vote theft, the Modi government is resorting to every possible tactic to protect Gyanesh Kumar!” He claimed that the Election Commission had refused to share information on the software used in the SIR process under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, citing “trade secrets”.Raising concerns over voter registration in Uttar Pradesh, the Congress chief alleged, “Details of 16.18 lakh Form-6 applications have not been made public. Irregularities involving 10,470 voters were detected in Pilibhit records. Now, they have been forced to order an investigation of Forms 6, 7, and 8 across the entire state.”Moreover, Kharge also reiterated three key demands of the INDIA bloc: the resignation of CEC Gyanesh Kumar and repeal of the 2023 law protecting him; an immediate halt to the SIR exercise and restoration of names of voters allegedly removed illegally; and the introduction of paper ballots for all elections.“This is not just a fight to save votes — it’s a people’s struggle to save the Constitution and democracy,” Kharge said, appealing to citizens to join the Opposition’s campaign.The Congress president called on people to assemble in the national capital on November 1 for the ‘Save Votes–Save the Nation’ people’s march and mega rally at Ramlila Maidan.