Senior Congress leader and Member of Parliament Dr. Shashi Tharoor has asserted that Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar must resign to ensure administrative accountability, warning that the opposition is prepared to pursue impeachment if he refuses to step down. During a recent interview, Dr. Tharoor outlined the opposition's core demands regarding the Election Commission of India, focusing particularly on the contentious Special Intensive Revision process and mounting concerns over electoral integrity.
Dr. Tharoor emphasized that a tangible victory for the opposition would involve successfully safeguarding and restoring the voting rights of Indian citizens, pointing to widespread allegations of voter deletions and administrative irregularities. Alongside the call for the Chief Election Commissioner's resignation, he urged authorities to immediately suspend the Special Intensive Revision process and conduct a comprehensive review of the electoral roll software currently in use.
Beyond electoral matters, Dr. Tharoor also took aim at local governance decisions, sharply criticizing the recent denotification of Jantar Mantar as a designated public protest site. He characterized this restriction as a deliberate attempt by authorities to curtail public dissent and limit democratic freedoms.
Separately, across the southern states, a range of major political and legal developments drew intense public debate. In Karnataka, a political controversy erupted after video footage from a New Delhi protest showed Rahul Gandhi pulling Karnataka Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar away from media view, providing fresh ammunition for BJP critics. Former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah also filed a formal police complaint regarding a circulating defamatory deepfake video, demanding an immediate investigation and legal injunction. Meanwhile, the Karnataka High Court declared the state's legislative amendment hiking SC and ST reservations beyond the traditional 50 percent constitutional cap to be unconstitutional.
In Tamil Nadu, the Madras High Court declined to entertain a petition challenging the resignations of AIADMK lawmakers who switched allegiance to TVK, even as authorities faced mounting public scrutiny over dangerous illegal banners across Chennai. In Andhra Pradesh, Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu hosted Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Joseph C. Vijay in Vijayawada for high-level talks concerning the proposed interlinking of the Godavari and Kaveri rivers. Additionally, in Kerala, the state Congress unit faced severe political backlash following a controversial social media post that criticized the judiciary.