New Delhi: The Delhi Police has not withdrawn permission granted to the Congress for its ‘Save the Vote, Save the Country Jan March and Mega Rally’ at Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan on November 1, sources said.
There has been no change to the permission originally granted to the Congress for the event, Delhi Police sources said, as reported by News18.
The clarification came after AICC general secretary (organisation) K C Venugopal, told reporters in Delhi that the permission for the rally had been denied.
“We announced a public impeachment of Ganesh Kumar of the Congress Party. That was actually planned as a curtain-raiser for the Ramlila Maidan rally and march scheduled for November 1. First of all, we approached Ashoka Hotel and its lawn. Initially, they told us they were okay with giving us the Ashoka Hotel lawn. But then the police came into the picture and denied permission for the lawn,” he said.
“After that, we booked Ramlila Maidan from October 25 to November 3, for around nine days. They had already granted us permission for this period. Therefore, after permission for the Ashoka Hotel lawn was denied, we decided to conduct the public impeachment here on October 30 as a curtain-raiser,” Venugopal said.
“The day before yesterday, our people came to set up the infrastructure, but the police stopped them. Yesterday, the police stopped them again. But we are not going to succumb to their pressure. You saw how we conducted the October 12 Supreme Court march. We will conduct it. We will have a programme, and we will let you know,” he added.
Congress MP Rahul Gandhi had earlier urged students, farmers, labourers, women, youth and traders to participate in the rally, alleging that names had been removed from voter lists and that rules and laws had been violated.
Rahul, in a post on X, called on people from different sections of society to join the programme, describing it as a campaign to protect democracy.
“Our votes are being stolen, and we will not tolerate this quietly under any circumstances,” he wrote.
Names had been removed from voter lists and that force had been used against people questioning the alleged irregularities, he further alleged.
“Names have been removed from the voter lists. Rules and laws have been broken. And lathis have been used on those asking questions. Now the country will respond,” Rahul added.
He urged people to gather in the national capital for the ‘Save the Vote, Save the Country Jan March and Mega Rally’ on November 1.
“November 1 – Let’s go to Delhi. Save the Vote – Save the Country Jan March and Mega Rally,” Rahul’s post read.
He also took a swipe at the BJP and its allies, thanking them sarcastically for promoting the programme and helping it reach a wider audience.
“Heartfelt thanks to BJP and its allies, who are promoting this programme with such great enthusiasm and reaching it to more and more people,” he wrote.