New Delhi: The Congress has begun large-scale preparations for the INDIA bloc’s rally at Ramlila Maidan in Delhi on November 1 against alleged “vote chori”.
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and K C Venugopal, both Congress general secretaries, met leaders and legislators from Uttar Pradesh and Haryana at the AICC headquarters in Delhi on Friday. The meetings were held to plan a big turnout for the proposed protest.
Venugopal said the Ramlila Maidan rally would be the last stop of the ‘Delhi Chalo March’, which is expected to reach Delhi on November 1. He said the party expects at least one million people to take part in the march and rally.
In a post on X, he said: “Today, along with Smt. @priyankagandhi ji, met with AICC In-Charge Sh. Rajendra Pal Gautam ji, UP PCC President Smt. Aradhana Misra-Mona ji, and senior leaders from UP Congress to discuss our mobilisation efforts for the Nov 1st INDIA Bloc Mega Rally against Vote Chori.”
“We also held a meeting with the AICC In-charge Sh. Sanjay Dutt ji, PCC President Sh. Rao Narender Singh ji, and senior leaders from Haryana for the same. This rally at Ramleela Maidan will be the culmination of a massive Delhi Chalo March which will reach the national capital on 1st November, where we expect at least 1 million citizens to march for our cause,” he added.
He also alleged: “Our programs against the criminal Vote Chori orchestrated by Gyanesh & Co. — at Modi-Shah’s behest — will be historic.”
The rally is part of the opposition’s protest against the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls, as reported by The New Indian Express. The INDIA bloc has also demanded the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities.
According to the Congress, the rally will show that opposition parties are united in protecting democracy and want to remove those it accuses of manipulating elections.
The planning follows an October 12 ‘March for Democracy’ in Delhi, where opposition leaders and activists marched towards the Supreme Court and later filed a joint petition against the SIR. The INDIA bloc has said it will continue its agitation.