INDIA bloc keeps up pressure on CEC, says ‘vote chori’ protest to continue

• INDIA bloc leaders stage a peaceful sit-in at Rajghat and vow to continue protests until CEC Gyanesh Kumar resigns.

• Rahul Gandhi accuses Modi, Amit Shah, Mohan Bhagwat and Kumar of conspiring to undermine the Constitution and electoral rights.

• Opposition leaders plan to meet at Parliament House on Friday as their campaign against alleged electoral irregularities continues.

INDIA bloc leaders on Thursday, 8 October staged a peaceful protest at Mahatma Gandhi’s memorial at Rajghat, alleging that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union home minister Amit Shah and chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar had ‘hijacked’ the country through a criminal conspiracy involving ‘vote chori (theft)’.

The Opposition leaders prayed at Mahatma Gandhi’s memorial for “wisdom to the BJP government and the chief election commissioner”. They also paid floral tributes at the memorial before staging a peaceful sit-in.

The leaders said they would continue their protest on Friday and were likely to meet at Parliament House in the morning.

Several Opposition leaders said they would continue their struggle until Kumar resigned, though they did not disclose their future strategy.

Congress Rajya Sabha MP Pawan Khera, who heads the party’s media and publicity department, told reporters, “You saw how INDIA bloc MPs and leaders peacefully protested at Rajghat and paid respects to Mahatma Gandhi. We prayed for wisdom for this government, wisdom for CEC Gyanesh Kumar, and for the protection of every voter’s vote as well as democracy in the country.”

CPI(M) leader John Brittas said the protest would continue on Friday. “Until Gyanesh Kumar tenders his resignation, the INDIA bloc’s protest will continue. If his masters — Modi and Amit Shah — are bent upon protecting Gyanesh Kumar, they will also sink with him. We are proceeding with resolve and determination,” he said.

CPI leader P. Sandosh also said the protest would continue on Friday. “It will be better for the country if Gyanesh Kumar resigns soon,” he said.

CPI(M) leader V. Sivadasan said the unity among Opposition parties remained intact.

Earlier, Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi alleged that Modi, Shah, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat and Kumar had destroyed the Constitution, asserting that they would be brought to justice for their alleged conspiracy.

Gandhi made the remarks after Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge hosted a lunch for Opposition MPs and leaders at Moets restaurant in Connaught Place’s Outer Circle. The leaders subsequently decided to stage a peaceful protest at Rajghat.

They travelled to the memorial in buses parked outside the restaurant, with Congress workers walking alongside them. Rajghat is a few kilometres from central Delhi.

Thursday’s demonstration marked the third consecutive day of protests by opposition MPs and leaders. On Tuesday, Gandhi staged an eight-hour sit-in inside the Akashvani Bhawan complex. On Wednesday, opposition leaders protested at the roundabout near the Shangri-La hotel in central Delhi after police stopped their march towards Jantar Mantar and detained several leaders.

Gandhi said around 300 MPs wanted to hold a peaceful sit-in, but they were stopped near the Election Commission’s office on the first day and prevented from reaching Jantar Mantar on the second. He alleged that they were “beaten up”.

“The truth is that Narendra Modi, Amit Shah, Mohan Bhagwat and Gyanesh Kumar have hijacked the country through a criminal conspiracy. They have destroyed the Constitution and stolen votes. “They will be brought to justice. This is our guarantee, and you will see it happen.”

Speaking about the Rajghat sit-in, Kharge said the Opposition wanted to draw the country’s attention to what it described as the BJP government’s attempt to deprive citizens of their voting rights. “Modi and Shah are snatching away that freedom which great leaders like Gandhiji, Nehruji and Sardar Patelji had won for us,” he said.

With PTI inputs