New Delhi, November 1: The Opposition INDIA bloc held a major protest at Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan on Sunday under the banner ‘Vote Bachao, Desh Bachao’, accusing the Election Commission of irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge, Sonia Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav were among those who attended the rally.
Addressing the gathering, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said the Opposition would continue its campaign against alleged vote theft. Accusing the BJP of attempting to take away the votes of women, young people and Dalits, Kharge declared that the fight would continue until Gyanesh Kumar leaves office.
RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav compared the protest venue to the battlefield of Kurukshetra from the Mahabharata. He alleged that Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar was a puppet of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and called for a united Opposition campaign.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah took a swipe at Rahul Gandhi, saying that if he wanted to become Prime Minister, he could remain in a mock parliament throughout his life, but his turn would never come. BJP president J P Nadda, meanwhile, described the INDIA bloc rally as a planned conspiracy to create unrest.
Rahul Gandhi alleged that shops in Delhi’s Connaught Place area had been forcibly shut on the day of the protest at the BJP’s behest. He questioned who was responsible for causing losses to local traders during the festive season. The BJP, however, criticised the timing of the Opposition rally.
CPI(M) leader M A Baby described the protest as the country’s “second freedom struggle”, while CPI(ML) leader Dipankar Bhattacharya alleged that India was moving towards a police state.
The BJP organised counter-demonstrations in several locations. Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta led a ‘Loktantra Bachao, Arajakta Hatao’ march in the capital. BJP president Nitin Nabin led a counter-rally in Rohtak, Haryana, while Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma participated in a BJP march in Shimla, Himachal Pradesh.
