Bharat Rashtra Samithi leaders on Friday questioned the functioning and independence of the Election Commission of India. The remarks came amid opposition protests at Jantar Mantar against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.

BRS leader V Srinivas Goud told ANI that “public doubts need to be clarified”. He said there was a need to assess the functioning of the commission and the role of its commissioners. He claimed the commission “operates under the government rather than truly independently”.

Fellow BRS leader Jeevan Reddy alleged that voter deletions were targeting those opposed to the BJP. He claimed that “almost all political parties except the BJP are protesting” against the poll panel.

In a separate development, the BRS accused the Congress of “vote chori” in Telangana. It alleged that 23,000 new votes were added and duplicate registrations made in a day. The party said it had written to the Election Commission and would approach the High Court. The allegations from all sides remain contested and unverified.