New Delhi: The INDIA bloc’s agitation against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar entered its third consecutive day on Thursday as opposition MPs, led by Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, moved from a strategy lunch in Connaught Place to a planned sit-in at Rajghat.
After a closed-door meeting hosted by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge at Moets restaurant, the leaders boarded three buses and set off for the Gandhi memorial, bracing for a heavy police presence already deployed across central Delhi.
The lunch was attended by key INDIA alliance figures, including Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee and Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy. The Samajwadi Party (SP), which had sat out the October 7 Jantar Mantar protest, rejoined the agitation on Thursday, though party chief Akhilesh Yadav did not attend the meet and sent two representatives instead.
Thousands of party workers, largely from Congress and allied outfits, converged in Connaught Place and trailed the convoy of buses carrying the MPs toward Rajghat, as Delhi Police and central forces tightened security in the area, as reported by South First.
Rahul Renews Conspiracy Charge
Speaking to the media after the lunch, Rahul Gandhi repeated his charge that the Prime Minister, Home Minister, CEC and RSS chief are behind a “criminal conspiracy” to subvert democracy.
“The reality is that Narendra Modi, Amit Shah, Gyanesh Kumar, and Mohan Bhagwat have hijacked India through a criminal conspiracy, destroyed the Constitution, and stolen votes. We, the Opposition, assure you that action will be taken. They will be brought to justice. This is our guarantee. You will see these four individuals brought to justice,” he said.
Gandhi claimed about 300 MPs from both Houses had sought to hold a peaceful protest but were blocked for two days — first outside the Election Commission and then at Jantar Mantar, where, he alleged, police assaulted protesters.
“Around 300 MPs, from the Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha, wish to stage a peaceful protest. We have been prevented from protesting for two days now. On the first day, we were stopped outside the Election Commission. Subsequently, we expressed our desire to protest at Jantar Mantar, yet yesterday, as you witnessed, we were stopped there as well; our people were assaulted,” he said.
‘We Will Pray For Wisdom’
Kharge announced that the MPs would hold a peaceful dharna at Rajghat and “pray” for the BJP-led government to show restraint.
“We, the members of the INDIA alliance, are heading to the Gandhi Memorial to stage a peaceful sit-in protest. We will sit there and pray that the BJP government, specifically PM Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah be granted the wisdom to realize that their actions are not in the nation’s interest,” Kharge said.
He said the opposition wants the Centre to stop “stripping us of our rights and freedom.”
“Whether it is the issue of vote theft, the rising inflation, the problems facing the youth, or any other crisis they have created, everything goes against the public interest. That is why we are going to the Gandhi Memorial to pray; we want to highlight that they are snatching away the freedom we secured, the freedom won for us by great leaders like Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Mahatma Gandhi, and Vallabhbhai Patel and are making every effort to destroy it,” he said.
“They are taking away our right to vote. We are going there to pray that they be granted the wisdom to stop stripping us of the rights and freedoms—including the right to vote—that were secured for us by these great leaders. We will sit there and stage a protest,” he added.
‘13 Crore Voters Off Rolls’
The protests centre on alleged irregularities in the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR), which opposition leaders claim led to the deletion of around 13 crore names from electoral rolls. The INDIA bloc is demanding Kumar’s resignation, cancellation of the SIR, and restoration of the deleted entries.
The Rajghat dharna follows a tense second day on October 7, when Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and dozens of MPs were detained by Delhi Police near Jantar Mantar after being stopped short of the designated protest site.
