Chandigarh, Sept. 26 -- The Punjab Congress on Friday staged a protest outside the Election Commission office in Chandigarh, Sector 17, demanding the ouster of chief election commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar over alleged electoral irregularities and lack of transparency in the functioning of the poll panel. Police used water cannons on protesters as they attempted to march towards the ECI office.

The protest also brought factionalism within the state Congress back into focus as former chief minister of Punjab Charanjit Singh Channi and Partap Singh Bajwa, Leader of Opposition in the state assembly, remained absent from the agitation despite having joined the September 15 protest led by Punjab Congress in-charge Sachin Pilot. The protest ...