United in driving 'vote chors' out: Congress ahead of INDIA bloc rally

• Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and K.C. Venugopal review rally preparations with UP and Haryana leaders.

• Congress claims one million people will join the ‘Delhi Chalo March’ on 1 November.

• INDIA bloc steps up pressure over alleged electoral irregularities and seeks chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation.

The Congress has said the INDIA bloc’s 1 November rally against ‘vote chori (theft)’ in Delhi will send a strong message of Opposition unity in defence of democracy and its determination to drive the alleged perpetrators of electoral fraud out of power.

Congress general-secretaries Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and K.C. Venugopal on Friday, 23 October met party leaders from Uttar Pradesh and Haryana at the All India Congress Committee (AICC) headquarters in Delhi to review preparations for the rally at Ramlila Maidan.

The meeting with Uttar Pradesh leaders was attended by AICC state in-charge Rajendra Pal Gautam, former UPCC chief Ajay Rai, state Congress working president Imran Masood, and senior leaders Salman Khurshid and Ajay Lallu, among others.

The meeting with Haryana leaders was attended by AICC in-charge Sanjay Dutt, Pradesh Congress Committee president Rao Narender Singh, Congress general-secretary Randeep Surjewala and MP Deepender Hooda, among others.

Venugopal said in a post on X: ‘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.'

He said a separate meeting was also held with Haryana Congress leaders to review preparations for the rally.

Venugopal said the rally at Ramlila Maidan would culminate a massive ‘Delhi Chalo March’, which is scheduled to reach the national capital on 1 November. He claimed that at least one million citizens were expected to participate.

‘Our programs against the criminal vote chori orchestrated by Gyanesh & Co. — at Modi-Shah's behest — will be historic,’ he said in the post.

People from across the country would attend in large numbers, Venugopal said, adding that the rally would send a strong message that ‘we are united in protecting our democracy and driving these vote chors out of power’.

The INDIA bloc rally is aimed at stepping up pressure on the government over the ‘vote chori’ allegations and demanding the resignation of chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

On 12 October, protests over the alleged ‘vote theft’ reached the Supreme Court, with Opposition leaders, activists and civil society members participating in a ‘March for Democracy’ along a heavily barricaded route in Delhi. They also filed a joint petition challenging the SIR.

The following day, Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi hosted INDIA bloc leaders for tea at his residence. After the meeting, the Opposition alliance vowed to continue its campaign and take the ‘vote chori’ fight to its logical conclusion.

With PTI inputs