New Delhi: Congress-led Opposition continued its protest against alleged discrepancies in the Election Commission’s (EC) Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise for the third day on Thursday as the Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition (LoP) Rahul Gandhi, party President Mallikarjun Kharge led the march to Rajghat.
Hundreds of leaders, along with party workers reached Rajghat on Thursday evening, to turn on the heat on the Union government and Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar and also to chalk out their next course of action.
Prior to this, senior leaders of Congress and INDIA bloc assembled in the Connaught Place for a luncheon, where they discussed ways to escalate their stir against alleged ‘vote chori’.
The Opposition has been gunning for CEC Gyanesh Kumar, demanding his resignation over alleged irregularities in the SIR of electoral rolls.
Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi, speaking to press at the Rajghat, reiterated demand for CEC Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation and also make an appeal to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi to listen to people’s voice.
Earlier, speaking to scribes after the lunch meet, Kharge said the Opposition wanted to highlight that the freedom secured by India’s freedom fighters was being “snatched” by the poll panel and that the people’s “right to vote is being taken away”.
Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and scores of Congress leaders have been on the streets in the national capital for the past two days, against alleged ‘vote chori’ by the EC and have been pressing for its resignation.
They claim that the poll panel has conspired with the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Union government to hijack the country’s democracy and stealing people’s votes through ‘criminal conspiracy’. They have accused the poll panel of undermining and weakening the constitutional bodies.
Telangana CM at Rajghat
Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy was also present at the site. In a statement, he accused the BJP of playing divisive politics, inspired by the colonial British rule.
“The BJP has tried to divide Indians on basis of religion, caste, region and language. They have also misused Central agencies as a threat to weaken opposition and stifle and weaken institutions,” he said.
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi has always wanted to capture power using divisive tactics taken from the imperialist British playbook,” he said.
But the people of India won’t allow it. This is not a fight of Congress party alone or even INDIA alliance but of our country’s future.
In Hyderabad, ministers Ponnam Prabhakar, Ponguleti Srinivasa Reddy, Jupally Krishna Rao, Vakiti Srihari, state Congress president B Mahesh Kumar Goud and other leaders and workers were taken into preventive custody and shifted to the Punjagutta police station after they were stopped near the Lok Bhavan.
They continued their protest in the Punjagutta police station, raising slogans against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and in support of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.
The rally, organised as part of the INDIA bloc’s ‘Save Democracy’ campaign, was held from the Indira Gandhi statue in Necklace Road here to the Lok Bhavan.
The protesting leaders and workers were later released from the police station, a police official said.
(With inputs from agencies)
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